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RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science Plant Immunity Research Group

Group Director: Ken Shirasu (Ph.D.)

Research Summary

Ken  Shirasu(Ph.D.)

Our group’s ultimate goal is to fully describe functions of genes, proteins and small molecular compounds that are essential for immunity in plants. As the first step, we focus on regulatory mechanism of immunity by studying dynamics of resistance signaling complexes and protein modifications that control defense responses. In addition, we plan to identify novel genes involved in plant immunity by isolating defense mutants in model plants. We also collaborate with the Metabolomics Research Group to isolate small molecule compounds involved in disease resistance.

Main Research Fields

  • Biology

Related Research Fields

  • Agricultural Sciences

Keywords

  • Plant Immunity
  • Plant-Microbe Interactions
  • Genomics
  • Plant Chemical Biology
  • Signal Transduction

Selected Publications

  • 1. Laohavisit A, Wakatake T, Ishihama N, Mulvey H, Takizawa K, Suzuki T, Shirasu K.:
    "Quinone perception in plants via leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases"
    Nature. (2020)
  • 2. Wakatake T, Ogawa S, Yoshida S, Shirasu K.:
    "Auxin transport network underlies xylem bridge formation between the hemi-parasitic plant Phtheirospermum japonicum and host Arabidopsis"
    Development. dev.187781. (2020)
  • 3. Kurotani, K.-I., Wakatake, T., Ichihashi, Y., Okayasu, K., Sawai, Y., Ogawa, S., Suzuki, T., Shirasu, K., Notaguch, M.:
    "Host-parasite tissue adhesion by a secreted type of β-1,4-glucanase in the parasitic plant Phtheirospermum japonicum"
    Comm Biol. 3: 407. (220)
  • 4. Notaguchi M, Kurotani K-i, Sato Y, Tabata R, Kawakatsu Y, Okayasu K, Sawai Y, Okada R, Asahina M, Ichihashi Y, et al.:
    "Cell-cell adhesion in plant grafting is facilitated by β-1,4-glucanases"
    Science 369: 698-702. (2020)
  • 5. Yoshida, S., Kim, S., Wafula, E. K., Tanskanen, J., Kim, Y. M., Honaas, L., Yang, Z., Spallek, T., Conn, C. E., Ichihashi, Y., Cheong, K., Cui, S., Der, J. P., Gundlach, H., Jiao, Y., Hori, C., Ishida, J. K., Kasahara, H., Kiba, T., Kim, M. S., Koo, N., Laohavisit, A., Lee, Y. H., Lumba, S., McCourt, P., Mortimer, J. C., Mutuku, J. M., Nomura, T., Sekimoto, Y. S., Seto, Y., Wang, Y., Wakatake, T., Sakakibara, H., Demura, T., Yamaguchi, S., Yoneyama, K., Manabe, R., Nelson, D. C., Schulman, A. H., Timko, M. P., dePamphilis, C. W., Choi, D., and Shirasu, K.:
    "Genome sequence of Striga asiatica provides insight into the evolution of plant parasitism"
    Curr. Biol. 29: 3041-3052.E4. (2020)
  • 6. Kadota, Y., Liebrand, T. W., Goto, Y., Sklenar, J., Derbyshire, P., Menke, F. L., Torres, M., Molina, A., Zipfel, C., Coaker, G. and Shirasu, K.:
    "Quantitative phosphoproteomic analysis reveals common regulatory mechanisms between effector‐ and PAMP‐triggered immunity in plants"
    New Phytol. 221:2160-2175. (2019)
  • 7. Tsushima, A., Gan, P., Kumakura, N., Narusaka, M., Takano, Y., Narusaka, Y., Shirasu, K.:
    "Genomic plasticity mediated by transposable elements in the plant pathogenic fungus Colletotrichum higginsianum"
    Geome Biology and Evolution, evz087. (2019)
  • 8. Spallek, T., Melnyk, C.W., Wakatake, T., Zhang, J., Sakamoto, Y., Kiba, T., Yoshida, S., Matsunaga, S., Sakakibara, H., Shirasu, K.:
    "Inter-species hormonal control of host root morphology by parasitic plants"
    Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 114:5283-5288. (2017)
  • 9. Ishida, J. K., Wakatake, T., Yoshida, S., Takebayashi, Y., Kasahara, H., Wafula, E., dePamphilis, C. W., Shigetou N., Shirasu, K.:
    "Local auxin biosynthesis mediated by a YUCCA flavin monooxygenase regulates the haustorium development in the parasitic plant Phtheirospermum japonicum"
    Plant Cell 28:1795-1814. (2016)
  • 10. Mutuku, J.M., Yoshida, S., Shimizu, T., Ichihashi, Y., Wakatake., T., Seo, M., Takahashi., A., Shirasu, K.:
    "The WRKY45-dependent signaling pathway is required for resistance against Striga parasitism"
    Plant Physiol 168:1152-1163. (2015)

Recent Research Results

Related Links

Lab Members

Principal investigator

Ken Shirasu
Group Director

Core members

Yasuhiro Kadota
Senior Research Scientist
Nobuaki Ishihama
Research Scientist
Shuta Asai
Research Scientist
Anuphon Laohavisit
Research Scientist
Naoyoshi Kumakura
Research Scientist
Sachiko Masuda
Research Scientist
Yukihisa Goto
Postdoctoral Researcher
Satoshi Ogawa
Postdoctoral Researcher
Kazuki Sato
Visiting Researcher
Yu Ayukawa
Visiting Researcher
Max Fishman
Visiting Researcher
Nino Espinas
Visiting Researcher
Kaori Takizawa
Technical Staff II
Ryoko Hiroyama
Technical Staff II
Noriko Maki
Technical Staff II
Arisa Shibata
Technical Staff II

Contact Information

E618 East Research Building, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa, 230-0045, Japan

Email: ken.shirasu [at] riken.jp

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