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Epigenome Structure and Dynamics Lab (Osakabe Lab)
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The lab uncovers the arms race between transposons and their hosts from the perspective of epigenetics.
AboutAbout the lab
Unraveling the arms race between “jumping genes” and their hosts.
The Epigenome Structure and Dynamics Lab studies the behavior of transposons, which move around within the genome.
Transposons make up a large part of plant and animal genomes. While they are a driving force of evolution, they can also disrupt gene function.
For this reason, many organisms tightly suppress transposons so that they are not expressed.
Using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the lab investigates this suppression and the mechanisms that evade it, from the molecular level to the whole organism.
Key terms
- Transposon
- A DNA fragment that can change its position within the genome. Also called a “jumping gene” or “mobile genetic element”
- Epigenetics
- Mechanisms that switch genes on or off without changing the DNA base sequence
- Chromatin modification
- Chemical marks attached to histones and other components that DNA wraps around. They are involved in silencing genes and transposons
NewsLab news
Mechanism by which VANC, an anti-silencing factor of transposons, recognizes target DNA revealed
Epigenome Structure and Dynamics Lab established
ResearchResearch themes
Transposons make up a large part of plant and animal genomes. They are a “double-edged sword”: a driving force of genome evolution, yet also able to disrupt gene function and cause disease. The lab aims to elucidate the arms race between hosts and transposons from an epigenetic perspective and to apply that knowledge to new genome and epigenome editing technologies.
*Illustrative imageHow transposons are suppressed
Organisms distinguish ordinary genes from transposons and silence the latter. The lab investigates how chromatin modifications, histone variants, and chromatin remodeling factors work together, and how this changes depending on the environment.
*Illustrative imageFactors that evade suppression
Factors carried by transposons have evolved to escape suppression by the host. Using methods that reconstitute reactions in a test tube, together with molecular genetics, the lab will clarify how these factors work.
*Illustrative imageApplications to genome and epigenome editing
The lab believes that the arms race between transposons and their hosts could become the foundation for new editing technologies. Taking advantage of the properties of the molecules involved, it aims to develop flexible and precisely targeted tools for epigenome regulation.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Epigenome Structure and Dynamics Lab consist of faculty, master's and undergraduate students, technical assistants, and administrative assistants.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorAkihisa Osakabe
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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: “Arabidopsis Thaliana planted in Laboratory” Jucember / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- How transposons are suppressed: “Epigenetic mechanisms” National Institutes of Health / Public domain (cropped)
- Factors that evade suppression: “Tn3 transposon replicative integration diagram” Famedog / CC0 (cropped)
- Applications to genome and epigenome editing: “CRISPR CAS9 technology” Elena I Leonova / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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