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Research Outline

    Potassium and nitrogen are major nutrients for plant growth, and lack of them has entailed increased use of fertilizers. However, increased fertilizer usage does not result in comparable production increase, and excess fertilizer run-off creates soil pollution. Growing ecological awareness necessitates new solutions to increase agricultural production without endangering the environment, and achieve food security via sustainable agriculture. As solutions to these issues, we aim to elucidate the components of plant potassium sensing and deficiency signaling in Arabidopsis using various approaches. In parallel, we are using a marine red macroalga, Pyropia yezoensis (susabinori) in order to understand the mechanisms that enable seaweeds to survive in salty condition and to compare these mechanisms with those of the land plant Arabidopsis thaliana in terms of Na+/K+ homeostasis. We are also intensively analyzing regulatory components of cesium uptake that selectively inhibit/suppress/prevent uptake of radiocesium from contaminated soil. In addition, to establish efficient phytoremediation methods for unwanted metals, characterization of chemical compounds which affect cesium and heavy metal uptake in plants is in progress.

Contents of Research

1. Dissection of signaling cascades in plant response to potassium deprivation
2. Improvement of plant nutrient use efficiency in response to nutrient limitation
3. Understanding of marine macroalgae life in the marine environment
4. Remediation of land contaminated with unwanted metals using plants and chemical compounds

 

Elucidating membrane transporters for cation transport in various systems, Arabidopsis, rice and seaweeds CsTolen A reduces Cs⁺ uptake in soil grown plants

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