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Plant Symbiosis and Molecular Biology Lab
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The lab investigates, at the molecular level, the mechanisms of symbiosis between legumes and rhizobia.
AboutAbout the lab
Uncovering the ingenious ways plants live, through symbiosis.
The lab studies root nodule symbiosis, which forms between legumes and nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
Nitrogen is a nutrient essential to living things, and plants have various mechanisms for obtaining it that suit the environment where they grow.
The research rests on two pillars: how root nodule symbiosis is regulated in response to environmental change, and what molecular evolution gave rise to it.
Projects that apply findings from basic research are also underway.
Key terms
- Root nodule symbiosis
- A relationship in which legumes and other plants form swellings called nodules on their roots and exchange nutrients with the rhizobia living inside.
- Nitrogen fixation
- The process of converting atmospheric nitrogen into forms, such as ammonia, that living organisms can use.
- Transcription factor
- A protein that binds to DNA and switches which genes are turned on and when.
NewsLab news
Paper on nodule formation and nitrate reductase published in Plant and Cell Physiology
Paper on the NIN gene in non-nodulating plants published in New Phytologist
Paper on the evolution of NIN, a regulator of root nodule symbiosis, published in Science Advances
A master's program graduate received the Biology Degree Program Leader's Award
ResearchResearch themes
The lab focuses on root nodule symbiosis, a representative example of how plants obtain nitrogen nutrition, and aims to clarify at the molecular level the ingenious ways plants live. Using mainly the model legume Lotus japonicus, it studies how symbiosis is regulated in response to the environment, how symbiosis evolved, and how iron is delivered to nodules, and it also works on applications to crops.
*Illustrative imageRegulation of root nodule symbiosis in response to the nitrogen environment
When soil nitrate is abundant, plants temporarily halt root nodule symbiosis. Studying this mechanism in Lotus japonicus, the lab showed that the transcription factor NLP acts in response to nitrate. It is now also examining responses to other nitrogen sources, such as ammonia.
*Illustrative imageHow root nodule symbiosis evolved
Plants that can form root nodules are limited to four orders. Tracing how NIN, the key transcription factor for symbiosis, branched off from its relative NLP, the lab found that part of the foundation was already in place before symbiosis arose.
*Illustrative imageHow iron is delivered to nodules
The enzyme responsible for nitrogen fixation does not work without iron. The lab discovered the peptide IMA, which acts according to nitrogen status, and clarified how iron is delivered to nodules. It is now studying how the peptide moves within the plant body.
*Illustrative imageDeveloping soybeans that withstand changing environments
The lab focuses on nitrogen fixation by rhizobia, which places a small burden on the environment. Based on findings from model plants, it aims to develop soybeans that maintain symbiotic nitrogen fixation even in changing environments.
MembersFaculty
The lab's members consist of faculty, researchers, doctoral students, master's students, undergraduates, and research students.As of 2026
- ProfessorTakuya Suzaki
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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. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Rhizobia nodules on Vigna unguiculata” Stdout / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Regulation of root nodule symbiosis in response to the nitrogen environment: “Lotus japonicus 005” Ավետիսյան91 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- How root nodule symbiosis evolved: “Root tubercle legume L” Jon Houseman / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- How iron is delivered to nodules: “Root-nodule01” Louisa Howard - Dartmouth Electron Microscope Facility / Public domain (cropped)
- Developing soybeans that withstand changing environments: “An unhealthy soybean field in South Dakota on 8 August 2024 - 4” USDAgov / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (植物分子生理学
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（賴本 隼汰） ): “Colibri-thalassinus-001-edit” Mdf, Edited by Laitche / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped) - Related lab (植物寄生菌学
（岡根 泉） ): “Blackberry Leaf Rust Fungus ( )” John Tann from Sydney, Australia / CC BY 2.0 (cropped) - Related lab (微生物進化学
（中山 卓郎） ): “Sticholonche- unicellular eukaryote, radiolarian” MLE LA / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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