Area of Research:
Bioorganic studies on naturally occurring organic molecules possessing novel structure and biological activity : development of new synthetic methodologies, total synthesis of natural products, elucidation and control of the biofunctions.

Research Keywords:
organic synthesis, natural products, chemical biology, molecular design

Area of Research:
Studies on identification, action mechanisim, and application of bioactive molecules produced by plants and microorganisms. Mechanistic analysis and application of carbohydrate‐binding small molecules.

Research Keywords:
natural products, antibiotics, carbohydrates, peptides

Area of Research:
Isolation, structure determination, synthesis, biosynthesis, and modes of action of bioactive natural products that regulate biologically and physiologically intriguing phenomena. Anesthetic substances from venomous mammals, and key substances for marine symbiotic relationships. Development of new analytical methods for target molecules using fluorescent probes.

Research Keywords:
natural products, chemical biology, chemical probe, mode of action, toxins, symbiosis

Area of Research:
Studies on controlled syntheses and functions of biomaterials and medical polymers including artificial glycoconjugates, biofunctional polymers and environmentally friendly synthetic polymers.

Research Keywords:
Biomaterials, Biopolymers, Functional Polymers, Polymer Synthesis, Organic Synthesis

Area of Research:
Mechanistic enzymology of flavin and pyridoxal enzymes. Physiological function of isoprenoid, amino acids, and vitamins. Microbial and enzymatic production of useful substances. Lipid biosynthesis in Archaea.

Research Keywords:
enzyme, isoprenoid, archaea, D‐amino acid, pyridoxal phosphate

Area of Research:
Molecular bioengineering for novel biomolecules, bioprocesses and analytical processes. Currently, novel monoclonal antibody screening, single molecule technology for protein engineering, and the mechanism of translation‐enhancing peptide are major research topics.

Research Keywords:
Bioinformatics, Enzyme engineering, Protein Engineering, Antibody Engineering, Next Generation Sequencing, High‐throughput Screening

Area of Research:
Studies on the microbial population, and the chemical and biological processes occurring in the paddy field ecosystem.

Research Keywords:
Agricultural land, Biogeochemical cycles, Microbial ecology, Microbial physiology, Microbial taxonomy

Area of Research:
Molecular and chemical genetic studies on gene regulation of agriculturally and industrially important microorganisms, especially filamentous fungi.

Research Keywords:
Filamentous fungi, Food microiology, Polysaccaride‐degrading enzymes, Transcriptional regulation, Secondary metabolites

Area of Research:
Chemical biology of electrophilic ligands, such as lipid peroxidation products and functional food molecules.

Research Keywords:
Oxidative stress, Covalent modification of proteins, Functional foods, Lifestyle‐ related diseases, Extracellular vesicles

Area of Research:
Biochemical and molecular cell biological studies on signal transduction, intracellular traffic, gene expression regulation in animal cell differentiation, growth and cell death.

Research Keywords:
Ca²⁺-binding proteins, Cell death, Cell growth, Membrane traffic, Molecular interactions

Area of Research:
Biochemistry and molecular cell biology on the biosynthesis and dynamics of proteins, nucleic acids and their complexes in mammals, and on the functions and regulations of these molecules in living organisms, including cell proliferation and tissue differentiation. Specifically, we are studying mammary gland development and milk synthesis, translational control including ribosomes, and the epithelial responses to bioactive factors.

Research Keywords:
Mammary gland, Milk, Ribosome, Epithelial cell

Area of Research:
Interdisciplinary studies between bioagricultural, medicinal, and pharmaceutical sciences on regulatory mechanisms for glycans‐involved phenomena to attain better health, environment, and food

Research Keywords:
Glycocalyx, glycans, glycosyltransferase, glycosidase, immune system, neural system

Area of Research:
Studies on impacts of metabolic changes of glycans in proteins and lipids at the organism level, using medaka models and their integrated omics including glycomics.

Research Keywords:
Glycobiology, Sialic acid metabolism, Membrane microdomain, Reverse genetics of Medaka, Glycomics, Glycoproteomics

Area of Research:
Studies on fucntions of extracellular matrix, transporter proteins, and signal transduction.

Research Keywords:
Bone, Heart, Molecular Biology, Electrophysiology, Imaging

Area of Research:
Nutritional regulation of enzyme and gene expression in mammals. Molecular mechanisms for hepatocyte differentiation in 3-dimensional culture systems. Physiological significance of liver circadian rhythm. Metabolism and physiological functions of branched-chain amino acids.

Research Keywords:
Gene expression, Liver clock, Branched-chainamino acids (BCAA), Muscle

Area of Research:
Omnivorous animals including human evaluate and select specific foods among several candidates before consumption. Our goal is the identification of the neural mechanism for food choice.

Research Keywords:
Brain, Gustatory, Food preference, Appetite

Area of Research:
Studies on molecular mechanisms underlying optimization of plant growth and development in response to environmental cues with focusing on phytohormone function.

Research Keywords:
Nutritional response, Plant hormones, Growth regulation, Nitrogen, Iron

Area of Research:
Biochemical, molecular genetic, and microscopic studies on regulatory mechanisms of development of plant organs such as flowers, pollen grains, and roots. Studies on molecular functions and regulation of membrane proteins that support photosynthesis and inorganic nutrient assimilation in plants and cyanobacteria.

Research Keywords:
Flower development and anthesis, Pollen morphology, Meristem organization, Jasmonic acid, Transcription factors, Membrane transporter

Area of Research:
Biochemical, cellular and genetic studies on molecular mechanisms of chlorophyll biosynthesis, nitrogen fixation, circadian rhythm and phytohormone signal transduction in cyanobacteria and plants.

Research Keywords:
Cyanobacteria, Chlorophyll biosynthesis, Nitrogen fixation, Plants, Circadian clock, Plant hormone signal transduction, Gene regulation

Area of Research:
Molecular mechanisms of plant growth and development, and their regulation in response to environmental signals. Studies on the construction of artificial membrane‐less organelles in plant cells.

Research Keywords:
meristem, endosperm, stress, seed dormancy, jasmonic acid, membraneless organelles

Area of Research:
Understanding plant circadian rhythms and seasonal behaviors with multi‐omics approaches. Improvement of plant biomass and productivity by controlling key genes for circadian and seasonal behaviors.

Research Keywords:
Plant circadian clock, Transcriptional network, Bioactive small molecules.