Kenji FukushimaNational Institute of Genetics · Center for Frontier Research
Kenji Fukushima
PhD
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30
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April 2010 - March 2015
Publications
Publications (30)
Subgenome dominance after whole-genome duplication generates distinction in gene number and expression at the level of chromosome sets, but it remains unclear how this process may be involved in evolutionary novelty. Here we generated a chromosome-scale genome assembly of the Asian pitcher plant Nepenthes gracilis to analyse how its novel traits (d...
Subgenome dominance after whole-genome duplication generates distinction in gene number and expression at the level of chromosome sets, but it remains unclear how this process may be involved in evolutionary novelty. Here, we generated a chromosome-scale genome assembly of the Asian pitcher plant Nepenthes gracilis to analyze how its novel traits (...
Carnivorous plants often spark broad interest due to their specialized adaptations for trapping and consuming animals. These notable organisms not only fix carbon through photosynthesis, but they also obtain essential nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphate from their captured prey. In typical angiosperms, interactions with animals are usually con...
On macroevolutionary timescales, extensive mutations and phylogenetic uncertainty mask the signals of genotype–phenotype associations underlying convergent evolution. To overcome this problem, we extended the widely used framework of non-synonymous to synonymous substitution rate ratios and developed the novel metric ωC, which measures the error-co...
Cleistogamy, in which plants can reproduce via self‐fertilization within permanently closed flowers, has evolved in > 30 angiosperm lineages; however, consistent with Darwin's doubts about its existence, complete cleistogamy – the production of only cleistogamous flowers – has rarely been recognized. Thus far, the achlorophyllous orchid genus, Gast...
To survive in nutrient-poor habitats, carnivorous plants capture small organisms comprising complex substances not suitable for immediate reuse. The traps of carnivorous plants, which are analogous to the digestive systems of animals, are equipped with mechanisms for the breakdown and absorption of nutrients. Such capabilities have been acquired co...
Harnessing plant genetic resources including wild plants enables exploitation of agronomically unfavorable lands to secure food in the future. The genus Vigna , family Fabaceae, consists of many species of such kind, as they are often adapted to harsh environments including marine beach, arid sandy soil, acidic soil, limestone karst and marshes. He...
Charles Darwin recognized that carnivorous plants thrive in nutrient-poor soil by capturing animals. Although the concept of botanical carnivory has been known for nearly 150 years, its molecular mechanisms and evolutionary origins have not been well understood until recently. In the last decade, technical advances have fueled the genome and transc...
Plants recognize surrounding microbes by sensing microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) to activate pattern-triggered immunity (PTI). Despite their significance for microbial control, the evolution of PTI responses remains largely uncharacterized. Here, by employing comparative transcriptomics of six Arabidopsis thaliana accessions and three...
Organisms withstand normal ranges of environmental fluctuations by producing a set of phenotypes genetically programmed as a reaction norm; however, extreme conditions can expose a misregulation of phenotypes called a hidden reaction norm. Although an environment consists of multiple factors, how combinations of these factors influence a reaction n...
The leaves of the carnivorous plant Venus flytrap, Dionaea muscipula (Dionaea) close rapidly to capture insect prey. The closure response usually requires two successive mechanical stimuli to sensory hairs on the leaf blade within approximately 30 s (refs. 1–4). An unknown biological system in Dionaea is thought to memorize the first stimulus and t...
The origins of multicellular physiology are tied to evolution of gene expression. Genes can shift expression as organisms evolve, but how ancestral expression influences altered descendant expression is not well understood. To examine this, we amalgamate 1,903 RNA-seq datasets from 182 research projects, including 6 organs in 21 vertebrate species....
Phylogenetic analysis can be a powerful tool for generating hypotheses regarding the evolution of physiological processes. Here, we provide an updated view of the evolution of the main cation channels in plant electrical signalling: the Shaker family of voltage-gated potassium channels and the two-pore cation (K⁺) channel (TPC1) family. Strikingly,...
Plants recognize surrounding microbes by sensing microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) to activate pattern-triggered immunity (PTI). Despite their significance for microbial control, the evolution of PTI responses remains largely uncharacterized. Employing comparative transcriptomics of six Arabidopsis thaliana accessions and three addition...
Most plants grow and develop by taking up nutrients from the soil while continuously under threat from foraging animals. Carnivorous plants have turned the tables by capturing and consuming nutrient-rich animal prey, enabling them to thrive in nutrient-poor soil. To better understand the evolution of botanical carnivory, we compared the draft genom...
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed, also known as Huzhang in Chinese), a plant that produces bioactive components such as stilbenes and quinones, has long been recognized as important in traditional Chinese herbal medicine. To better understand the biological features of this plant and to gain genetic insight into the biosynthesis of its natur...
Carnivorous plant genome research has focused on members of the Lamiales and Oxalidales; the most complete sequences are for Utricularia gibba and Cephalotus follicularis. The size-limited U. gibba genome highlights the importance of small-scale tandem duplications, which likely play roles in this species’ carnivorous adaptation. Sequencing of the...
Carnivorous plants exploit animals as a nutritional source and have inspired long-standing questions about the origin and evolution of carnivory-related traits. To investigate the molecular bases of carnivory, we sequenced the genome of the heterophyllous pitcher plant Cephalotus follicularis, in which we succeeded in regulating the developmental s...
Carnivorous plants produce morphologically complex leaves that serve as a trapping device. Among a variety of the trap leaves, pitcher-shaped leaves have been considered to have evolved by drastic morphological changes, since no evolutionary intermediate has been identified in both extant and extinct species. Here we review roles of organ polarity...
Complex morphology is an evolutionary outcome of phenotypic diversification. In some carnivorous plants, the ancestral planar leaf has been modified to form a pitcher shape. However, how leaf development was altered during evolution remains unknown. Here we show that the pitcher leaves of Sarracenia purpurea develop through cell division patterns o...
Leaves of flowering plants are diverse in shape. Part of this morphological diversity can be attributed to differences in spatio-temporal regulation of polarity in the upper (adaxial) and lower (abaxial) sides of developing leaves. In a leaf primordium, antagonistic interactions between polarity determinants specify the adaxial and abaxial domains...
for SCIRP and the owner of the intel-lectual property Hokuto Nakayama et al. All Copyright © 2014 are guarded by law and by SCIRP as a guardian. ABSTRACT North American lake cress, Rorippa aquatica (Eaton) EJ Palmer & Steyermark (Brassicaceae), is listed as an endangered or threatened species. Lake cress shows heterophyllic changes in leaf form in...
To clarify the evolutionary dynamics of ribosomal RNA genes (rDNAs) in the Byblis liniflora complex (Byblidaceae), we investigated the 5S and 45S rDNA genes through (1) chromosomal physical mapping by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and (2) phylogenetic analyses using the nontranscribed spacer of 5S rDNA (5S-NTS) and the internal transcri...
Several Northern Hemisphere Drosera species have been used in the therapy of respiratory tract infections as the traditional medicine Droserae Herba.
To determine the anti-inflammatory effects of Drosera species and to investigate a substitute material for Droserae Herba, we examined the effect of extracts of Drosera rotundifolia, Drosera tokaiensi...
Drosera spathulata complex, which consists of diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid populations, is widely but disjunctively distributed from eastern part of Australia throughout the South East Asian countries, to Japan. Among these populations, high morphological changing has been found in this species. To investigate intraspecific DNA polymorphism, a...
Bitter gourd ( Momordica charantia L.) is a popular tropical vegetable in Asian countries. Previously it was shown that bitter gourd placenta extract suppressed lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced TNFalpha production in RAW 264.7 macrophage-like cells. Here it is shown that the butanol-soluble fraction of bitter gourd placenta extract strongly suppres...
We conducted chromosomal characterizations of three species in the Byblis liniflora complex using sequential fluorescent staining with chromomycin A3 (CMA) and 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI), and fluorescence in situ hybridization method. Byblis filifolia and B. rorida had the diploidal chromosome number of 2n=16, while B. liniflora had the t...
Byblis filifolia and B. liniflora had the diploidal and the tetraploidal chromosome numbers of 2n=16 and 32, respectively. In condensation behavior from prophase to metaphase, most chromosomes of both species had early condensing segments at the proximal regions. At prometaphase and early-metaphase, all chromosomes except for some small sized chrom...