Laboratories

Director: Mikiko Sodeoka Deputy Director: Ken Shirasu, Zhaomin Hou Senior Advisor: Kazuki Saito

Understanding plant immunity mechanisms and developing sustainable disease resistant crops

Main research: Biology
Related research: Agricultural sciences

Plant Immunity Research Group

Group DirectorKen Shirasu

Developing new catalysts for more eficient, selective chemical transformations

Main research: Chemistry
Related research: Environmental science / Interdisciplinary science and engineering / Medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy / Organic chemistry / Synthetic chemistry / Polymer chemistry

Advanced Catalysis Research Group

Group DirectorZhaomin Hou

Developing new transition metal-catalyzed reactions and conducting integrated research of chemistry and plant science

Main research: Chemistry
Related research: Biological sciences / Medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy

Catalysis and Integrated Research Group

Group DirectorMikiko Sodeoka

Understanding the mechanisms and physiology of plant metabolism and improving production of useful materials

Main research: Biological sciences
Related research: Biology / Agricultural sciences

Metabolic Systems Research Team

Team DirectorMasami Hirai

Developing software platforms and databases for metabolomics research

Main research: Complex systems
Related research: Biological sciences

Metabolome Informatics Research Team

Team DirectorMasanori Arita

Exploring sustainability of environmental metabolic system based on a data-driven approach

Main research: Complex systems
Related research: Chemistry / Agricultural sciences / Informatics / Environmental science / Interdisciplinary science and engineering / Mathematical and physical sciences / Biological sciences / Life sciences / Environmental analysis and modeling / Aquatic ecosystem

Environmental Metabolic Analysis Research Team

Team DirectorJun Kikuchi

Analyzing plant genomic networks for environmental stress adaptation and improved productivity

Main research: Biology
Related research: Biological sciences / Agricultural sciences

Plant Genomic Network Research Team

Team DirectorMotoaki Seki

Uncovering the regulatory network underlying plant organ growth and regeneration

Main research: Biology
Related research: Agricultural sciences

Cell Function Research Team

Team DirectorKeiko Sugimoto

Understanding plant-microbe symbiosis in order to establish sustainable agriculture

Main research: Biology
Related research: Agricultural sciences

Plant Symbiosis Research Team

Team DirectorMakoto Hayashi

Exploring next generation organic synthesis for an environmentally sustainable society

Main research: Chemistry
Related research: Complex systems / Engineering

Advanced Organic Synthesis Research Team

Team DirectorLaurean Ilies

Can we develop suitable catalysts towards green sustainable chemistry?

Main research: Chemistry
Related research: Complex systems / Interdisciplinary science and engineering / Engineering / Medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy

Green Nanocatalysis Research Team

Team DirectorYoichi Yamada

Understanding biological electron transfer is critical to develop a sustainable energy strategy

Main research: Chemistry
Related research: Environmental science / Biology

Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team

Team DirectorRyuhei Nakamura

Exploring target molecules and mode-of-action of bioactive compounds through global analysis of chemical genetic interactions

Main research: Biology
Related research: Medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy

Molecular Ligand Target Research Team

Team DirectorCharles M. Boone

Exploring useful genes for plant productivity and developing technology to increase grass biomass

Main research: Biology
Related research: Informatics / Agricultural sciences

Bioproductivity Informatics Research Team

Team DirectorKeiichi Mochida

Developing new biopolymers and applying them as biomass-based functional and structural materials

Main research: Engineering
Related research: Chemistry / Biological sciences / Agricultural sciences

Biomacromolecules Research Team

Team DirectorKeiji Numata

Creating new high quality plastic materials made from biomass

Main research: Chemistry
Related research: Engineering / Polymer chemistry / Green/Environmental chemistry

Bioplastic Research Team

Team DirectorHideki Abe

Regulation of plant physiology with synthetic molecules

Main research: Chemistry
Related research: Complex systems / Biological sciences / Biology / Agricultural sciences

Molecular Bioregulation Research Team

Team DirectorShinya Hagihara

A lipidomic approach to addressing plant growth and development

Main research: Biology
Related research: Engineering / Agricultural sciences / Environmental science / Plant molecular biology/Plant physiology / Molecular biology / Cell biology

Plant Lipid Research Team

Team DirectorYuki Nakamura

Contributing sustainable crop productivity and improvement of environmental stress adaptation through elucidation of plant hormone functions

Main research: Biology
Related research: Agricultural sciences / Plant molecular biology/Plant physiology / Applied molecular and cellular biology / Science in genetics and breeding

Plant Chemical Genetics Research Team

Team DirectorMasanori Okamoto

Production of novel bioactive compounds with biosynthetic ways

Main research: Complex systems
Related research: Chemistry / Biology / Agricultural sciences / Medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy / Chemical Biology / Biomolecular chemistry / Natural product chemistry

Chemical Biology and Biosynthesis Research Team

Team DirectorTakayoshi Awakawa

FAME: Fungal signalling in Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Endosymbioses

Main research: Biology
Related research: Agricultural ciences / Molecular biology / Cell biology / Plant nutrition/Soil science

RIKEN-Cambridge Joint Crop Symbiosis Research Team

Team DirectorUta Paszkowski

Advancing sustainable solutions through systemic understanding and engineering of soil-plant-microbe interactions, fostering harmony between humanity and nature

Main research: Complex systems
Related research: Informatics / Environmental science / Biological sciences / Biology / Agricultural sciences

Holobiont and Resilience Research Team

Team DirectorYasunori Ichihashi

Developing out-of-the-box molecules that make breakthroughs in the fields of chemical biology and drug discovery in unexplored chemical space

Main research: Chemistry
Related research: Engineering / Biological sciences / Biology / Agricultural sciences / Medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy / Synthetic organic chemistry / Molecular functional materials / Chemical biology

Expanded Chemical Space Research Team

Team DirectorKenichiro Itami

Catalyst development based on understanding the reaction mechanisms, targeting valorization of various carbon resources

Main research: Chemistry
Related research: Engineering / Complex systems / Interdisciplinary science and engineering / Synthetic organic chemistry / Green sustainable chemistry / Polymer chemistry

Catalytic Utilization of Carbon Resources Research Team

Team DirectorKyoko Nozaki

Rational cell design for enhanced production of valuable compounds via metabolic pathway engineering and enzyme creation

Main research: Engineering
Related research: Informatics / Chemistry / Biology / Biofunction and bioprocess engineering-related / Applied microbiology-related / System genome science-related

Biomanufacturing Design Research Team

Team DirectorTomokazu Shirai

Exploring microbial gene resources and elucidating biosynthetic mechanisms to produce valuable compounds

Main research: Complex systems
Related research: Interdisciplinary science and engineering / Biological sciences

Natural Product Biosynthesis Research Unit

Unit LeaderShunji Takahashi

Development of crop reproductive system customized functional RNAs that are respectively adapted under harsh environments

Main research: Biology
Related research: Informatics / Interdisciplinary science and engineering / Biological sciences / Agricultural sciences

Reproductive System RIKEN ECL Research Team

RIKEN ECL Team DirectorReina Komiya

Developing new methodologies for molecular transformations using light energy

Main research: Chemistry
Related research: Environmental science / Complex systems / Interdisciplinary science and engineering

Molecular Photocatalysis RIKEN ECL Research Unit

RIKEN ECL Unit LeaderKei Murata

Elucidating the stem cell systems that enable continuous plant growth

Main research: Biology
Related research: Agricultural sciences / Developmental biology / Plant molecular biology/Plant physiology

Cambial Stem Cell System RIKEN ECL Research Unit

RIKEN ECL Unit LeaderDongbo Shi

Elucidate metabolic principles by uncovering metabolic and enzymatic diversity in nature and validating via synthetic biology

Main research: Biological sciences
Related research: Chemistry / Biology / Agricultural sciences

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RIKEN ECL Unit LeaderYoko Chiba

Discovering seed and lead compounds by HTS to develop new drugs

Main research: Chemistry
Related research: Biology

Drug Discovery Seeds Development Unit

Unit LeaderMinoru Yoshida

Pursuing small molecule drug discovery and targeted protein degradation

Main research: Chemistry
Related research: Medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy

Drug Discovery Chemistry Platform Unit

Unit LeaderHiroo Koyama

Developing technologies and platforms for structure characterization by NMR and MS analyses

Main research: Chemistry
Related research: Interdisciplinary science and engineering / Agricultural sciences / Medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy

Molecular Structure Characterization Unit

Unit LeaderHiroyuki Koshino

To resolve the mystery of biological phenomena, we examine the protein structure

Main research: Biology
Related research: Environmental science / Chemistry / Biological sciences / Agricultural sciences / Medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy

Biomolecular Characterization Unit

Unit LeaderNaoshi Dohmae

Providing mass spectrometric and microscopic platforms for plant science

Main research: Biological sciences
Related research: Chemistry / Biology / Agricultural sciences / Medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy

Mass Spectrometry and Microscopy Unit

Unit LeaderMasami Hirai

Expanding and using chemical libraries to accelerate chemical biology research

Main research: Complex systems
Related research: Informatics / Biological sciences / Agricultural sciences / Medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy

Chemical Resource Development Research Unit

Unit LeaderShinya Hagihara