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Soil Biochemistry Lab
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A lab that explores the mechanisms of material cycling through soil microbes in paddy fields.
AboutAbout the lab
Exploring how paddy field ecosystems are formed and the biochemical reactions within them.
The Soil Biochemistry Lab studies how paddy field ecosystems are formed and what biochemical reactions take place in them, from the perspectives of soil microbiology, paddy soil chemistry, and global environmental issues.
Paddy fields are home to microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, archaea, filamentous fungi, and protozoa, which influence one another.
For example, methane, a greenhouse gas, is produced by methanogenic archaea and broken down by methane-oxidizing bacteria.
Using paddy soils collected from across Japan, the lab investigates the dynamics of various microbes and the interactions among them.
Key terms
- Paddy field ecosystem
- Consists of floodwater, plow layer soil, and subsoil. The plow layer is divided into an oxidized layer at the surface and a reduced layer beneath it.
- Methanogenic archaea
- Microbes that produce methane. They cannot do so without the presence of symbiotic bacteria.
- Methane-oxidizing bacteria
- Bacteria that break down methane. They oxidize methane in soil layers where oxygen is present.
NewsLab news
A paper showing that iron-oxidizing bacteria increase rapidly when paddy soil is drained has been published in SSPN
A presentation by the Associate Professor and colleagues won the Best Poster Award at the 23rd World Congress of Soil Science
ResearchResearch themes
A paddy field ecosystem consists of floodwater, plow layer soil, and the subsoil beneath the plow layer, and each part hosts a microbial community adapted to it. Using paddy soils from across Japan, the lab analyzes microbial dynamics and interactions among microbes, aiming to elucidate the actual state and the mechanisms of microbial diversity and function in the cycling of biogenic elements in paddy field ecosystems.
View More ↗MembersFaculty
The members of the Soil Biochemistry Lab are faculty, technical staff, secretaries, technical assistants, and master's and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorSusumu Asakawa
- Associate ProfessorTakeshi Watanabe
- Assistant ProfessorRina Shinjo
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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: “Paddy fields in Dinajpur District 01” Kritzolina / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Molecular Cell Regulation Lab): “Calmodulin 1CLL” 作者不詳 / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Animal Cell Function Lab): “Biochemistry student at work” Victoria Fomchenkova / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Food Function Chemistry Lab): “Municipal Market of São Paulo city” Wilfredor / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Applied Enzymology Lab): “Isethionate sulfite-lyase crystal structure (with substrate isethionate bound)” Christopher D. Dawson, Lindsey R.F. Backman / CC0 (cropped)
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