Plant Lipid Research Team

A lipidomic approach to addressing plant growth and development

Team Director

Yuki Nakamura D.Sci.

2007: D.Sci., Graduate School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology
2007: JSPS Research Fellow, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, Singapore
2010: Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Germany
2011: Assistant Research Fellow / Assistant Professor, Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
2014: EMBO Young Investigator, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), Germany
2015: Associate Research Fellow / Associate Professor, Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
2020: Research Fellow / Professor, Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan (-current)
2020: Visiting Professor, Biotechnology Center, National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan (-current)
2021: Team Director, Plant Lipid Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (-current)

Main Research Fields :	Biology
Related Research Fields :	Engineering / Agricultural sciences / Environmental science / Plant molecular biology/Plant physiology / Molecular biology / Cell biology
Keywords :	Plant lipid metabolism / Plant lipid signaling / Plant growth regulation / Functional lipidomics / Metabolic engineering
Strategic Program :	Sustainable Bioproduction

Outline

We investigate how lipids regulate plant growth and development. Lipids play diverse roles in energy storage, maintenance of cellular membrane integrity, and signal transduction. Under the concept of “Spatiotemporal (4-D) lipidomics”, we aim to precisely elucidate the molecular dynamics of lipid metabolism and the underlying mechanisms that govern growth regulation. Our fundamental research will provide a foundation for knowledge-based metabolic engineering strategies to efficiently convert photosynthetic assimilates into industrially valuable lipids, thereby contributing to the development of carbon-neutral society.

Subjects

Lipid-mediated mechanism in plant growth and developmental control
Physiological significance of molecular diversity of the membrane lipid profiles in environmental resilience
4D lipidomics: understanding of spatiotemporal dynamics of lipid metabolism and application to lipid metabolic engineering
Development of biomanufacturing technologies for oil production in plants