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Tominaga Lab
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The lab studies the flows inside the cells of plants, which cannot move, to understand how plants are built.
AboutAbout the lab
Understanding plants through intracellular transport.
The Tominaga Lab studies the mechanisms that transport materials inside plant cells.
Plants cannot move from the place where they take root, so they must sense their surroundings and grow to a size and shape suited to them.
When plant cells are observed under a microscope, an active intracellular movement called cytoplasmic streaming can be seen. It occurs when the motor protein myosin moves along actin, a component of the cytoskeleton.
Using techniques in cell biology, molecular biology, and live imaging, the lab aims to understand plants in an integrated way, from the molecular level to the level of the whole organism.
Key terms
- Cytoplasmic streaming
- A phenomenon in plant cells in which the cytoplasm and organelles move as if flowing in a fixed direction
- Myosin
- A protein that moves along actin filaments and generates force. It is called a motor protein
- Live imaging
- A method of following living cells under a microscope and observing the movements taking place inside them over time
NewsLab news
A student's research on the functional analysis of myosin XI and VIII in lycophytes was published in Planta
The lab revealed a new mechanism by which myosin XI regulates salt stress tolerance
A student's research on myosin XI and actin reorganization in Arabidopsis was published in Plant Cell Physiol
The lab revealed the role of myosin XI in supporting drought tolerance in plants
A collaborative study involving the professor revealed how myosin controls the polar localization of nutrient transport proteins
ResearchResearch themes
The Tominaga Lab is elucidating the unique intracellular transport mechanisms that plants have developed. Cytoplasmic streaming, which occurs when the motor protein myosin moves along actin in the cytoskeleton, has been shown to be involved in regulating a variety of plant functions, and the lab believes that this transport system reflects how plants are built.
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MembersFaculty
The members of the Tominaga Lab are faculty, invited researchers, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2025
- ProfessorMotoki Tominaga
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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: “Canadian Pond Weed Leaf Tip” KarlGaff / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Flows inside plant cells: “Chloroplasts - Microscopic view of Elodea canadensis” Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Kato Lab): “Megakaryocyte in bone marrow” Animalculist / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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- Related lab (Kubo Lab): “CSIRO ScienceImage 7113 Honey bee comb showing cells” Nick Pitsas, CSIRO / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Hoso Lab): “Sinistral x dextral Limicolaria martensiana” Jxd / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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