研究室紹介

Fungal Cell Biology

Basic biology of non-conventional yeasts. Understanding the genetic basis of diverse yeast sexual systems and the mechanisms controlling asymmetric cell division by budding.

Research Interests

1. Molecular mechanism of the flip-flop type secondary homothallism in methylotrophic yeast.
2. Regulation of gene expression at the mating type loci n in the primary homothallism in budding yeast.
3. Coordinated regulations of the microtubule cytoskeleton and mitotic signalling pathways.

Yeasts are beneficial microorganisms used in industries as well as to study biological processes, including the cell cycle and protein transport, as eukaryotic models. Comparative studies between phylogenetically distant species within a large number of yeast species can be expected to further our understanding of the characteristics and evolution of yeasts.
Our laboratory is interested in the regulations of sexual and asexual reproductions in yeast. Specifically, we focus on homothallism in yeast and study the molecular mechanisms that switch the mating type (sex). We are also interested in specific mechanisms that ensure the success of the budding mode of cell division. For our study, we are using methylotrophic yeasts as our research subjects and employing molecular and cell biological techniques.

Keyword of Research Area