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Biochemistry Lab
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A lab that investigates, from the genes up, how flowers, pollen, seeds, and tubers take shape.
AboutAbout the lab
Unraveling how plants take shape from a biochemical perspective
The Biochemistry Lab studies the mechanisms by which plant organs such as flowers, pollen, seeds, and tubers are formed.
Its goal is to understand developmental biology, which clarifies which genes build an organism's body, from a biochemical perspective.
The lab investigates through what changes in the molecules that make up the body the activity of genes leads to the formation of shape.
The phenomena it studies include flower buds opening, the surface structure of pollen forming, and nutrients accumulating in tubers and seeds.
Key terms
- Developmental biology
- The field that clarifies by what mechanisms and through the action of which genes bodies and organs are formed
- Jasmonic acid
- One of the plant hormones. It acts in the opening of flower buds and in defense responses that protect plants from insect pests
- Exine
- The structure that forms the outer shell of pollen. It is made of sporopollenin, a lipid-derived bioplastic
NewsLab news
View More ↗ResearchResearch themes
From a biochemical perspective, the lab studies how plant organs such as flowers, pollen, seeds, and tubers are formed by the action of which genes. Centering on the opening of flower buds, the formation of the pollen surface structure, and the mechanisms of nutrient storage, it seeks to uncover the pathways by which gene activity leads to the formation of shape.
*Illustrative imageHow flower buds open
In Arabidopsis mutants that cannot produce jasmonic acid, flower buds stop growing just before opening, so they either do not open or open late. The lab studies how jasmonic acid biosynthesis is activated in flower buds, and how it acts in petal elongation and in the maturation of stamens and pistils.
*Illustrative imageHow the pollen surface structure is formed
The lab studies how plants build the three-dimensional structure of the exine, the outer shell of pollen, using mutants that cannot form normal exine. Most of the mutations are in genes involved in polysaccharide biosynthesis, and the lab suspects that polysaccharides act like a template.
*Illustrative imageHow nutrients accumulate in tubers and seeds
In tubers and seeds, the expression of genes for enzymes that produce starch and oils, and of genes for storage proteins, is activated in response to the sucrose delivered to them. The lab has found transcription factors that are activated by sugar and is investigating their properties.
MembersFaculty
The Biochemistry Lab consists of faculty, engineers, technicians, and master's and undergraduate students.As of 2025
- Associate ProfessorSumie Ishiguro
- Assistant ProfessorKenichiro Maeo
- Assistant ProfessorShinichi Maeda
- Assistant ProfessorYoichi Yoichi
VoicesStudent voices
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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 kz08” Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- How flower buds open: “Papaver orientale oriental poppy opening flower bud with raindrops close-up in Dnipro by baby-bear.org” Natalka Ukraine / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- How the pollen surface structure is formed: “Misc pollen bw-and-colorized” File:Misc pollen.jpg: Dartmouth College Electron Microscope Facility File:Misc pollen colorized.jpg: Dartmouth Electron Microscope Facility, Dartmouth College / Public domain (cropped)
- How nutrients accumulate in tubers and seeds: “Sweet potato sprouting slips” Geo Lightspeed7 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Applied Microbiology Lab): “Geweihförmige Holzkeule - Staghorn fungus - Xylaria hypoxylon - 01” Norbert Nagel / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Animal Cell Function Lab): “Biochemistry student at work” Victoria Fomchenkova / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Cell Biochemistry Lab): “Alphafold structure model of pseudonajatoxin b” UniProt database / CC BY 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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