We are delighted to co-host the ETH–UZH–UTokyo Joint Symposium in partnership with KEPLR (Key-Molecule-Network in Plant Reproduction). Organized by the Division of Plant Biology and Chemical Biology at the University of Tokyo and KEPLR, this one-day event will bring together leading researchers from ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich, and our department to showcase cutting-edge advances in plant science, chemical biology, and bioengineering.

KEPLR members Prof. Dr. Jeffrey W. Bode (PI), Prof. Dr. Kentaro K. Shimizu (PI) and Dr. Yuuma Ishikawa (formerly of the Wolf lab) will also present at the symposium.

Date & Venue
May 14, 2025 (Wednesday)
5th-floor Auditorium, Chemistry Main Building
Department of Chemistry, School of Science, The University of Tokyo

Featured Presentations:

Long-distance translocation of sugar/gibberellin detected by new ultra-high sensitive sugar/gibberellin genetically encoded biosensor
Yuuma Ishikawa¹²³, Tetsuya Higashiyama³, Wolf B. Frommer¹²
¹ Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Institute for Molecular Physiology, Germany
² CEPLAS, Düsseldorf, Germany
³ University of Tokyo, Department of Biological Sciences, Japan
Responses to environmental stress in polyploid plants
Ryohei Fujita¹², Rie Shimizu-Inatsugi¹, Muneo Sato³, Tetsuya Mori³, Masami Yokota Hirai³, Kentaro K. Shimizu¹²
¹ University of Zurich, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, Switzerland
² Kihara Institute for Biological Research, Yokohama City University, Japan
³ RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Japan

Responses to environmental stress in polyploid plants
Ryohei Fujita¹², Rie Shimizu-Inatsugi¹, Muneo Sato³, Tetsuya Mori³, Masami Yokota Hirai³, Kentaro K. Shimizu¹²
¹ University of Zurich, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, Switzerland
² Kihara Institute for Biological Research, Yokohama City University, Japan
³ RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Japan

Searching for Pollen Number Controlling Genes
Taro Takahashi¹, Hiroyuki Kakui², Takashi Tsuchimatsu³, Kazuki Fukushima¹, Afif Hedhly⁴, Ana Marcela Florez-Rueda⁴, Ueli Grossniklaus⁴, Naoto-Benjamin Hamaya¹, Michaela Oborská-Oplová⁵, Vikram G. Panse⁵⁶, Kentaro K. Shimizu¹
¹ University of Zurich, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, Switzerland
² University of Tokyo, Institute for Sustainable Agro-ecosystem Services, Japan
³ University of Tokyo, Department of Biological Sciences, Japan
⁴ University of Zurich, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology & Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, Switzerland
⁵ University of Zurich, Institute of Medical Microbiology, Switzerland
⁶ University of Zurich, Faculty of Science, Switzerland

The International Marchantia Workshop 2024 was held from November 18th to 21st, 2024, at the RCCBC Conference Center in Hiroshima, Japan. This workshop was co-organized by Professor Takayuki Kohchi (Kyoto University), the Principal Investigator (PI) of the KEPLR project.

The workshop had a total of 192 participants, with:
• 105 attending in person (69 domestic and 36 international participants)
• 87 attending online (49 domestic and 38 international participants)

The KEPLR project invited 8 international participants, including Professor Ueli Grossniklaus, as well as postdoctoral fellows and graduate students from the Grossniklaus, Weijers, Feng, and Berger groups.

Among the speakers were:
• Ueli Grossniklaus (KEPLR Vice-Director, University of Zurich)
• Minako Ueda (KEPLR PI, Tohoku University)
• Tetsuya Hisanaga (KEPLR Junior PI, Nara Institute of Science and Technology)

This workshop highlighted KEPLR’s strong international collaboration and contributions to advancing Marchantia research.

The abstract deadline has been extended to March 28.
(2025.3.10)

We are pleased to announce that the Cold Spring Harbor Asia, Awaji, International Symposium will be held from Sunday, May 18, to Thursday, May 22, 2025. This symposium is co-hosted by Prof. Takeshi Izawa (The University of Tokyo), representing the topic “Genomic dynamics underlying the plastic hermaphroditism in plants (https://www.ige.tohoku.ac.jp/prg/flower/)”, and KEPLR.

We warmly invite everyone to participate!


Dates:
Sunday, May 18 – Thursday, May 22, 2025

Venue:
Awaji Yumebutai International Conference Center
1 Yumebutai, Awaji City, Hyogo Prefecture, 656-2301, Japan

Schedule
Date: May 18 (Sun)
Morning: -
Afternoon: Arrival & Registration
Evening: Reception Party

Date: May 19 (Mon)
Morning: Session 1
Afternoon: Poster Session
Evening: Session 2

Date: May 20 (Tue)
Morning: Session 3
Afternoon: Lunch Excursion, Poster Session
Evening: Session 4

Date: May 21 (Wed)
Morning: Session 5
Afternoon: Poster Session, Session 6
Evening: Banquet

Date: May 22 (Thu)
Morning: Free Discussion & Departure
Afternoon: -
Evening: -


For more details, visit:
Plant Reproductive Development and Genomics, Awaji, Japan (https://www.csh-asia.org/?content/2653)

A seminar featuring Professor Kentaro Shimizu, PI of KEPLR, was held at the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Agriculture.

• Date and Time: Friday, October 18, 16:00–17:30
• Location: Lecture Room 7, 1st Floor, Building 1, Faculty of Agriculture
• Speaker: Prof. Kentaro Shimizu
• Title: From Field Environments of Arabidopsis to the 10+ Wheat Genome Project

要旨：シロイヌナズナやイネのゲノム解読から20年近くを経て、ゲノムサイズが15GBにもなる異質六倍体パンコムギのゲノムが解読され、機能解析やオミクス解析が容易になった。コムギ10+ゲノムプロジェクトの第1期では、日本を代表する品種農林61号など世界の近代品種のde novoゲノムアセンブリなどを報告した。第2期では、汎トランスクリプトーム解析(White et al. bioRxiv）やゲノムワイドな選択の解析を行ってきた。そして、農林61号のアセンブリと東アジアのコムギ遺伝資源を活用して、有性生殖や病原抵抗性に関わる量的遺伝子座の解析を進めている。さらに、近隣個体の遺伝子型を考慮したNeighbor GWAS法を野外環境のシロイヌナズナに適用し、遺伝子型の混合によって昆虫食害を減少させる手法を開発した(Sato et al. Nature Communications 2024)。今後の可能性などについても論じたい。

The 10th KEPLR Seminar Series was hosted by the Ohbayashi and Ueda groups at Tohoku University.