LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Rhizosphere Regulation Lab
Machine-translated · View original
A lab that investigates the mechanisms and ecology of mycorrhizal fungi living in symbiosis with plant roots.
AboutAbout the lab
Root-dwelling symbiotic microbes that deliver nutrients to plants
The Rhizosphere Regulation Lab studies microbes that live in symbiosis with plant roots, especially arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can form symbioses with about 80% of land plants; in return for sugars from the plant, they collect the scarce phosphate in the soil and deliver it to the plant.
The lab pursues two lines of research: clarifying the mechanisms of symbiosis at the molecular level, and studying the ecology of symbiotic microbes living in extreme environments such as strongly acidic soils and volcanoes, with the aim of applying it to the revegetation of degraded land.
A revegetation method for strongly acidic soil that uses isolates obtained by the research group has been commercialized.
Key terms
- Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
- A group of fungi that grow inside plant roots in symbiosis with them. They collect phosphate in the soil and pass it to the plant
- Polyphosphate
- A substance in which many phosphate units are linked together like a chain. Mycorrhizal fungi store and transport phosphate in this form
- Degraded land
- Land where plants barely grow, such as land covered with volcanic ejecta or strongly acidic soil
NewsLab news
View More ↗ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies the activity of microbes in symbiosis with plants, from the molecular level to field ecology. It works on elucidating the mechanisms of symbiosis and on applying symbiotic microbes from extreme environments to environmental remediation.
*Illustrative imageHow mycorrhizal fungi deliver phosphate to plants
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi concentrate phosphate absorbed from the soil in the form of polyphosphate and transport it through their hyphae. By studying the organelles, enzymes, and genes involved in the synthesis and transport of polyphosphate, the lab aims to clarify how the fungi acquire and transport phosphate.
*Illustrative imageMycorrhizal fungi supporting vegetation on degraded land
Even on degraded land where plants struggle to grow, such as strongly acidic soil, some plants establish themselves by obtaining minerals through symbiosis with mycorrhizal fungi and other microbes. The lab searches for and isolates stress-tolerant symbiotic fungi from degraded land and compares their properties, aiming to build a foundation for revegetation and restoration technologies.
*Illustrative imageViruses that infect mycorrhizal fungi
The research group was the first in the world to discover a virus that infects arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (a mycovirus). The lab studies how viral infection affects the characteristics of the fungi and how fungi and viruses have evolved together.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Rhizosphere Regulation Lab are faculty, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and research students.As of 2025
- Associate ProfessorTatsuhiro Ezawa
VoicesStudent voices
Ratings and reviews reflect the experiences of individual current or former students, not the lab's official views. Whether a lab has reviews, or how many, says nothing about the lab itself.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
Student ratings (0 students)
--
--
--
--
--
--
Student voices answer questions like these
- What's great about this lab?
- What did you learn after joining?
- What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
- Who is this lab for?
- Where do graduates go?
Your experience can help younger students choose their lab. Your name won't be shown.
Write a lab reviewAnonymous · Your draft is saved if you stopRelatedLabs similar to Rhizosphere Regulation Lab
Crop Nutrition LabFaculty of Agriculture, Department of Bioresource ChemistryCrop nutrition, plant nutrition, microbial ecology
Soil Science LabFaculty of Agriculture, Department of Bioresource ChemistrySoil science
Bioorganic Chemistry LabFaculty of Agriculture, Department of Bioresource ChemistryBioorganic chemistry, plant physiology, natural products che…
Biochemistry LabFaculty of Agriculture, Department of Bioresource ChemistryBiological chemistryThe information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images.
- Top image: “Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizae 40X0031 03” Rajarshi Rit (https://orcid.org/ ) / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- How mycorrhizal fungi deliver phosphate to plants: “Arbuscular mycorrhiza microscope” Msturmel / Public domain (cropped)
- Mycorrhizal fungi supporting vegetation on degraded land: “Pioneer ‘ōhi‘a trees grow in the lava fields. (ca2cdbcb-0dfb-5e c380c6b217e)” NPS Photo / Public domain (cropped)
- Viruses that infect mycorrhizal fungi: “Spores tomato root” Samson90 / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Crop Nutrition Lab): “Crops NR )” USDA NRCS / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Soil Science Lab): “Soil Pit ( )” USDAgov / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Bioorganic Chemistry Lab): “Jasmonic acid molecule ball” Jynto (talk) / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Biochemistry Lab): “Jodprobe” Flo Sorg / Public domain (cropped)
About LabLog
LabLog is a lab review app for students only. Student members at each university interview students in labs and publish what they say. Student voices can only be read by students who sign up with a university email address. Operated by bestiee Inc.
Learn more about LabLog ↗Search engines and AI may reference the basic lab info and rating summaries on this page and the description of LabLog. Student voices are for student members only. Automated collection by programs (scraping, or input to or training of AI) is prohibited under Article 8 of the Terms of Service. If you need data for research or analysis, please contact us.