Let's accomplish the“Hanasaka Jiisan Project”! (Hanasaka Jiisan is one of the most popular Japanese folklores, that is a story of an old guy can make plants flower anytime he wants.)
When I was in high school, I read “What Makes Flowers Bloom” written by Atsushi Takimoto (Chuko Shinsho) and learned that many plants use a mechanism called “photoperiodic flower bud formation” to accurately recognize the length of daylight, anticipate seasonal changes, and bloom at the appropriate time to ensure the survival of their offspring. Since then, I have been researching this topic for nearly 30 years, eager to uncover the genetic mechanisms behind it. Till now, we have achieved results that have led to rice, the staple food of the Japanese people, being recognized both domestically and internationally as a model system for short-day plants, and we are continuing to conduct in-depth analysis day and night. We are also developing strains and varieties that can be artificially controlled to bloom at the desired time by the farmer, something that was not possible with conventional crops. Within our laboratory, we call this the “Hanasaka Jiisan Project”. In addition, over the past decade or so, with the spread of next-generation sequencing technology, the genomes of thousands of different rice strains have been sequenced and the data made publicly available. Using such big data, we are also studying changes in the gene function during the process of rice becoming a crop (domestication process). These insights are being utilized in new breeding methods that employ genome editing technology developed in recent years, and we are also making progress in the development of rice varieties that have never been seen before. We are conducting research with a focus on understanding the environmental responses of crops in the natural world, rather than only inside the laboratory.
Educational content
Developing human resources with driving power that goes beyond being mere cogs in the wheel
The Plant Breeding & Genetics Laboratory, where I belong, was established in 1906 and has a history of over 100 years. I am not from the Faculty of Agriculture, but I believe I am the eighth-generation professor. The first generation professor, Dr. Kametaro Toyama, was the first researcher to demonstrate through experiments that Mendel's laws apply to animals, and one of his students, Gonjiro Inazuka, led the team that bred the wheat variety “Norin 10”, which became the mother variety of the “Green Revolution”. Our goal is to develop human resources who have such powers to change our society. To this end, our guidance policy for undergraduate and Master's students begins with helping them acquire the ability to think logically on a regular basis and to present specialized knowledge in ways that are easy for the general public to understand. In addition, guiding doctoral students who aspire to pursue academic careers is the true strength of my laboratory, and we aim to develop human resources who will acquire the skills necessary to independently conduct highly original research, including the ability to carry out unique experiments within the laboratory and, when possible, negotiate joint research projects with external organizations.
Prospects for joint research and industry-academia collaboration
Get the right information for your family! Aiming for true peace of mind and safety!
Currently, we are seriously working on establishing a new breeding method using genome editing technology. Recently in Japan, it seems that the general public is at the mercy of unreliable information about new technologies reported in the media and on social networking sites. As an expert in plant breeding, I would like to promote activities that dispel misunderstandings about genome editing technology and facilitate its smooth implementation in society. For example, a few years ago, there were frequent reports that “off-target mutations are dangerous because they are unexpected”. This may be true for the medical application of genome editing but is incorrect information when it comes to breeding applications. Over the past six decades, “mutation breeding” has been actively practiced in Japan. It is a selection technique that discards useless or harmful mutations and retains those that are useful to society. From this perspective, those off-target mutations are unexpected mutations that occur at a very low frequency compared to previous mutations and are not considered dangerous for breeding. On the other hand, for materials for which breeding systems have not been established, such as fish and insects, it is necessary to prioritize the establishment of breeding selection systems. We plan to actively promote activities to share the key points of new technologies from the perspective of experts with companies and the general public.
