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RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science Plant Lipid Research Team

Team Leader: Yuki Nakamura (D.Sc.)

Research Summary

Yuki Nakamura

We are investigating how lipids control plant growth and development. Lipids play diverse roles in energy storage, cellular membrane integrity and signal transduction. Under the concept of “Spatiotemporal (4-D) lipidomics”, we precisely address the molecular dynamics of lipid metabolism and underlying mechanism in growth control. Our basic research will form the basis of knowledge-based metabolic engineering strategy to efficiently convert photosynthetic assimilates into industrially valuable lipids, which contributes to the development of carbon-neutral society.

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

Selected Publications

Papers with an asterisk(*) are based on research conducted outside of RIKEN.

  • 1. Niña Alyssa M Barroga, Van C Nguyen, Yuki Nakamura.:
    "The role of lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase 1 in reproductive growth of Arabidopsis thaliana."
    J Exp Bot, erae304. (2024)
  • 2. Anh H Ngo, Artik Elisa Angkawijaya, Yuki Nakamura, Kazue Kanehara.:
    "Non-specific phospholipase C3 is involved in endoplasmic reticulum stress tolerance in Arabidopsis."
    J Exp Bot 75(20) 6489–6499 (2024)
  • 3. Anh H. Ngo, Yu-Ching Wu, Yuki Nakamura.:
    "Bidirectional movement of tunicamycin in Arabidopsis thaliana."
    New Phytol 241:10-16 (2023)
  • 4. Chao-Yuan Yu and Yuki Nakamura*.:
    "SMALLER TRICHOMES WITH VARIABLE BRANCHES (SVB) and its homolog SVBL act downstream of transcription factor NAC089 and function redundantly in Arabidopsis unfolded protein response."
    J Exp Bot 74:5870-5880 (2023)
  • 5. Van C. Nguyen and Yuki Nakamura*.:
    "Distinctly localized lipid phosphate phosphatases mediate endoplasmic reticulum glycerolipid metabolism in Arabidopsis."
    Plant Cell 35:1548–1571. (2023)
  • 6. Niña Alyssa M. Barroga and Yuki Nakamura*.:
    "LYSOPHOSPHATIDIC ACID ACYLTRANSFERASE 2 (LPAT2) is required for de novo glycerolipid biosynthesis, growth, and development in vegetative and reproductive tissues of Arabidopsis."
    Plant J 112:709-721. (2022)
  • 7. Anh H. Ngo and Yuki Nakamura*.:
    "Phosphate starvation-inducible GLYCEROPHOSPHODIESTER PHOSPHODIESTERASE6 is involved in Arabidopsis root growth."
    J Exp Bot 73:2995-3003. (2022)
  • 8. *Angkawijaya, A.E, Nguyen, C.V., Gunawan, F., and Nakamura, Y.:
    "A pair of diacylglycerol kinases essential for gametogenesis and ER phospholipid metabolism in leaves and flowers of Arabidopsis."
    Plant Cell 32, 2602-2620. (2020).
  • 9. *Lin, Y-C., Liu, Y-c., and Nakamura, Y.:
    "The choline/ethanolamine kinase family in Arabidopsis: Essential role of CEK4 in phospholipid biosynthesis and embryo development."
    Plant Cell, 27, 1497-1511. (2015).
  • 10. *Nakamura, Y., Andrés, F., Kanehara, K., Liu, Y-c., Dörmann, P., and Coupland, G.:
    "Arabidopsis florigen FT binds to diurnally oscillating phospholipids that accelerate flowering."
    Nat. Commun., 5, 3553. (2014).

Recent Research Results

Related Links

Lab Members

Principal investigator

Yuki Nakamura
Team Leader

Core members

ArtikElisa Angkawijaya
Research Scientist
Yuta Ihara
Research Scientist
Van Cam Nguyen
Postdoctoral Researcher
Anh Hai Ngo
Visiting Scientist
Moe Ito
Student Trainee
Yasmin Hisham Al Dweik
Research Part-time Worker I
Siriporn Hiramatsu
Research Part-time Worker I
Keira Kirana Dinata
Administrative Part-time Worker II

Careers

Position Deadline
Seeking a few part-time staffs (Research Assistant) (Y24040) Mar. 31, 2025.
Seeking Research Scientists or Postdoctoral Researchers (Y24036) Open until filled

Contact Information

E712 East Research Building
1-7-22 Suehiro, Tsurumi, Yokohama, Kanagawa
230-0045 Japan

Email: yuki.nakamura.yf@riken.jp

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