Experimental Plant Division

Plant science is important for the production of food and useful materials as well as the preservation of the global environment. Since April 2002, the Experimental Plant Division has been selected as a national core institution of the Arabidopsis, plant cultured cells and DNA resources by the Japanese government. The aim of the laboratory is the collection, preservation and distribution of seeds, plant DNA materials and plant cultured cells. A model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana is the major origin of our resources. Development of novel technologies for the preservation and characterization of wild-type Arabidopsis and plant cultured cells is carried out. Training cource is operated to distribute the technologies, and project information is provided through the web site and presentations in the scientific conferences.

Research Subjects

• Cryopreservation of plant cultured cells
• Development of crop genomic resources and related techniques
• Characterization of natural accessions of Arabidopsis
• Development of technologies on the propagation and transformation of Brachypodium distachyon

Publications

1. Sawaki Y, Iuchi S, Kobayashi Y, Kobayashi Y, Ikka T, Sakurai N, Fujita M, Shinozaki K, Shibata D, Kobayashi M, Koyama H,:
   "STOP1 regulates multiple genes that protect Arabidopsis from proton and aluminum toxicities"
   Plant Physiology (2009) Vol.150 281-294
2. Abe H., Shimoda T., Onishi J., Kugimiya S., Narusaka M., Seo S., Narusaka Y., Tsuda S. and Kobayashi M.:
   "Jasmonate-dependent plant defence restricts thrips performance and preference"
   BMC Plant Biology (2009) Vol.9 1-12
3. Suzuki H, Park S, Okubo K, Kitamura J, Ueguchi M, Iuchi S, Katoh E, Kobayashi M, Yamaguchi I, Matsuoka M, Asami T, Nakajima M.:
   "Differential expression and affinities of Arabidopsis gibberellin receptors can explain variation in phenotypes of multiple knock-out mutants"
   The Plant Journal (2009) Vol.60 48-55
4. Sugimoto K, Takeuchi Y, Ebana K, Miyao A, Hirochika H, Hara N, Ishiyama K, Kobayashi M, Ban Y, Hattori T, Yano M.:
   "Molecular cloning of Sdr4, a regulator involved in seed dormancy and domestication of rice"
   Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2010) Vol.107 13 5792-5797
5. Hatakeyama K, Horisaki A, Niikura S, Narusaka Y, Abe H, Yoshiaki H, Ishida M, Fukuoka H, Matsumoto S.:
   "Mapping of quantitative trait loci for high level of self-incompatibility in Brassica rapa L."
   Genome (2010) Vol.53 257-265
6. Katori T, Ikeda A, Iuchi S, Kobayashi M, Shinozaki K, Maehashi K, Sakata Y, Tanaka S, Taji T.:
   "Dissecting the genetic control of natural variation in salt tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana accessions"
   Journal of Experimental Botany (2010) Vol.61 4 1125-1138
7. Kobayashi T, Nagayama Y, Higashi K, Kobayashi M.:
   "Establishment of a tissue culture system for somatic embryogenesis from germinating embryos of Arabidopsis thaliana"
   Plant Biotechnology (2010) Vol.27 4 359-364
8. Fujimoto T, Tomitaka Y, Abe H, Tsuda S, Futai K, Mizukubo T.:
   "Expression profile of jasmonic acid-induced genes and the induced resistance against the root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) in tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum) after foliar treatment with methyl jasmonate"
   Journal of Plant Physiology (2011) Vol.168 1084-1097
9. Abe H, BrGSP consortium:
   "The genome of the mesopolyploid crop species Brassica rapa"
   Nature Genetics (2011) Vol.43 10 1035-1039
10. Abe H, Tomitaka Y, Shimoda T, Seo S, Sakurai T, Kugimiya S, Tsuda S, Kobayashi M.:
    "Antagonistic plant defense system regulated by phytohormones assists interactions among vector insect, thrips and a tospovirus"
    Plant Cell Physiology (2012) Vol.58 1 204-212