Welcome

We are focusing on the molecular basis of biological functions of microalgae contributing to production of food, biofuel and industrial materials through photosynthesis. Especially, we employ a green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, as a model eukaryotic photosynthetic microorganism using genomic, proteomic, genetic, molecular and biochemical techniques.The current projects are:

(1) Molecular characterization of the carbon-concentrating mechanism (CCM) supporting photosynthetic carbon fixation, biofuel production, and cell proliferation.
(2) Elucidation of regulatory systems controlling photosynthesis and carbon/nitrogen metabolisms by sensing environmental factors including changes of levels in CO2 concentration, light and nutrients.
(3) Metabolic engineering for production of industrial important fatty acids, glycerolipids and carbohydrates.
(4) Molecular control and signaling of sexual reproduction and oil production by nutrient starvation.
(5) Identification of factors essential for intracellular signal transduction including calcium-dependent retrograde signal from chloroplast to nucleus and DYRK family of protein kinases supporting cell survival.

Talk video by PI

Important message for students outside Japan

We welcome PhD trainees, Master Course students, and Post-Doctoral fellows from any countries. A program "Global Frontier in Life Science" is designed for foreign students, who could obtain credits and the degree without Japanese skill. However, we recommend students to learn a basic level of Japanese language for daily life. Although available financial supports are limited, you are encouraged to apply any kinds of Scholarship such as the MEXT Research Scholarship at the embassy of Japan. Before application you are advised to send the all documents for MEXT screening to Dr. Fukuzawa, then you can get advices to improve your Application documents and also to discuss about your future research plans and life in Kyoto Univ. Entrance exam information is available here and the admission guidelines are available here.

We are focusing on the molecular bases of biological functions of photosynthetic microorganisms, eukaryotic algae, contributing to production of food, carbon-neutral renewable bio-products, and industrial materials, and also to understand the photosynthetic production. For example, why living organisms can survive under the carbon- or nitrogen-depleted environmental stress condition? We are studying the molecular mechanisms of stress-sensing, signal transduction, and acclimation processed by genetics and biochemistry using mutants. Especially we employ a green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, as a model eukaryotic microorganism using its genome information, mutants, and molecular or biochemical techniques. If you are interested in joining us, please read the contents of our website. You are encouraged to send us an e-mail containing the following information:

(1) Why you have chosen our lab.
(2) What kind of research projects you want to study with us. Detail research plans, which fit with our research activities shown in our home page, are preferable.
(3) CV containing your accomplishments including scientific papers, oral presentations, and title of thesis.
(4) Recommendation letters, if available.