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Molecular Biofunction Lab (Hanaoka Group)
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A lab that explores, from the genes, how plastids such as chloroplasts develop and function.
AboutAbout the lab
Decoding the tiny organelles inside plant cells.
The Molecular Biofunction Lab (Hanaoka Group) conducts research in plant physiology and plant molecular biology using plants and photosynthetic microorganisms.
It aims to clarify, from the action of genes, how plastids, including chloroplasts, differentiate.
It also studies how gene activity is regulated in response to environmental changes such as light and to the biological clock.
The lab is located in the Interdisciplinary Research Building on the Nishi-Chiba Campus, not on the Matsudo Campus where the Faculty of Horticulture is based.
Key terms
- Plastid
- A small organelle in plant cells. It changes form into chloroplasts, which carry out photosynthesis, or amyloplasts, which store starch, among others.
- Cyanobacteria
- A group of photosynthetic bacteria. Their ancestors are thought to have been taken into plant cells and become chloroplasts.
- Circadian rhythm
- A mechanism inside living things that regulates activity on a cycle of about 24 hours. Also called the biological clock.
ResearchResearch themes
Using plants and photosynthetic microorganisms, the lab studies how plastids (chloroplasts) differentiate, how they respond to environmental changes such as light, how the biological clock regulates gene activity, and how the nucleus and plastids exchange information. It mainly uses methods of molecular biology, biochemistry, and molecular genetics.
*Illustrative imageHow plastids change form
Plastids change form: they become chloroplasts in photosynthetic tissues and amyloplasts in tissues that store nutrients. The lab aims to clarify how gene activity is regulated during this differentiation and how information is transmitted within the cell.
*Illustrative imageSignals sent from plastids to the nucleus
The lab focuses on the possibility that “plastid signals,” through which plastids report their own state and regulate gene activity in the nucleus, are involved in plastid differentiation. It also aims to clarify the similarities and differences in how these signals are transmitted.
*Illustrative imageGene regulation in step with the internal clock
Using cyanobacteria, the simplest organisms with circadian rhythms, the lab studies how information from the clock is conveyed to gene activity, focusing on the mechanisms of transcriptional regulation.
*Illustrative imageObserving transcriptional regulation with ChIP
The lab applies chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), a method for examining the binding between DNA and proteins, to research on chloroplasts and cyanobacteria. It investigates transcriptional regulation in response to environmental changes such as light, and the roles of essential regulatory factors.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Molecular Biofunction Lab (Hanaoka Group) consist of faculty, technical assistants, and master's and undergraduate students.
- ProfessorMitsumasa Hanaoka
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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: “Clorofila 3” Wilfredor / CC0 (cropped)
- How plastids change form: “Potato amyloplast granules observed at 200 magnification under a polarized microscope with interference plate inserted. Massimo Brizzi 2021” Massimo Brizzi / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Signals sent from plastids to the nucleus: “Plant cell structure-ru-v2” Original: LadyofHats (Mariana Ruiz) / Derivative: Dhatfield / Derivative: Lady3mlnm / CC0 (cropped)
- Gene regulation in step with the internal clock: “Synechococcus cyanobacteria-cultures” Masur / Public domain (cropped)
- Observing transcriptional regulation with ChIP: “Cro protein complex with DNA” P99am / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (分子生体機能学研究室
（島田研） ): “Plant Cells, Being Plasmolyzed” Ouotro / CC BY 4.0 (cropped) - Related lab (生物化学研究室): “Test tubes in biochemistry lab” Kateryna Kot / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (生物資源化学
（髙橋 一聡） ): “PerkinElmerICP-768x576” 作者不詳 / Public domain (cropped) - Related lab (生命分子化学
（相馬 亜希子） ): “Molecule display ( )” allispossible.org.uk / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
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