Kazuko Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, Ph.D

Profession: Professor

Laboratory of Plant Molecular Physiology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo

1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan

E-mail : , Tel : +81-3-5841-8137, Fax : +81-3-5641-8009

Professional Career:

(Year) (Position, institution)

1982 – 1983 Post Doctoral Fellow, National Institute of Genetics

1984 – 1987 Post Doctoral Fellow, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan

1987 – 1989 Post Doctoral Fellow, The Rockefeller University, New York, USA

1989 – 1993 Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN)

1993 – 2004 Senior Researcher, Biological Resources Division,

Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS)

Ministry of Agriculture, forestry and fisheries

2004 – Present Professor, Laboratory of Plant Molecular Physiology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo,

Chief Researcher, Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Science (JIRCAS)

Social position:

2003-2006 Editor, Plant & Cell Physiology, The Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists.
2006-2011 Editor, Plant Physiology, American Society of Plant Physiologists.

Research outline:

Plant productivity is greatly affected by abiotic stresses, such as drought, high-salinity and low temperature. These stress factors are increasing due to environmental degradation and climatic changes around world. Genetic engineering is a fast and precise means of improving plant tolerance to the abiotic stresses. We are working on genes induced by the abiotic stresses, regulation of their gene expression and signal transduction cascade between initial stress and gene expression. We have identified cis-acting factors that function in the abiotic stress responses. We also identified many transcription factors that bind to the cis-acting factors such as DREB1/CBF, DREB2 and AREB. To develop crop plants that are tolerant to the abiotic stresses we are also working on molecular breeding using the identified genes that function in abiotic stress tolerance and responses.

Selected Publication List (to 2013):

  1. Osakabe Y, Arinaga N, Umezawa T, Katsura S, Nagamachi K, Tanaka H, Ohiraki H, Yamada K, Seo SU, Abo M, Yoshimura E, Shinozaki K, Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K.(2013)Osmotic Stress Responses and Plant Growth Controlled by Potassium Transporters in Arabidopsis.Plant Cell in press.
  2. Todaka, D., Nakashima, K., Maruyama, K., Kidokoro, S., Osakabe, Y., Ito Y., Matsukura S., Fujita Y., Yoshiwara K., Ohme-Takagi M., Kojima M., Sakakibara H., Shinozaki K., Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K.(2012)Rice phytochrome-interacting factor-like protein OsPIL1 functions as a key regulator of internode elongation and induces a morphological response to drought stress. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA.109, 15947-15952.
  3. Kim, J.-S., Mizoi, J., Kidokoro, S., Maruyama, K., Nakajima, J., Nakashima K., Mitsuda N., Takiguchi Y., Ohme-Takagi M., Kondou Y., Yoshizumi T., Matsui M., Shinozaki K., Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K.(2012)Arabidopsis GROWTH-REGULATING FACTOR 7 functions as a transcriptional repressor of ABA- and osmotic stress-responsive genes including DREB2A.Plant Cell24, 3393-3405.
  4. Yamada K, Kanai M, Osakabe Y, Ohiraki H, Shinozaki K, Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K. (2011) Monosaccharide absorption activity of Arabidopsis roots depends on expression profiles of transporter genes under high salinity conditions. J. Biol. Chem. 286(50), 43577-43586
  5. Osakabe, Y., Mizuno, S., Tanaka, H., Maruyama, K., Osakabe, K., Todaka, D., Fujita, Y., Kobayashi, M., Shinozaki, K. and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K. (2010)Overproduction of the membrane-bound receptor-like protein kinase1, RPK1, enhances abiotic stress tolerance in Arabidopsis. J. Biol. Chem.285, 9190-9201.
  6. Miyazono, K., Miyakawa, T., Sawano, Y., Kubota, K., Kang, H.-J., Asano, A., Miyauchi, Y., Takahashi, M., Zhi, Y., Fujita, Y., Yoshida, T., Kodaira, K., Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K. and Tanokura, M. (2009)Structural basis of abscisic acid signaling. Nature462, 609-614.
  7. Qin, F., Sakuma, Y., Tran, L.-S. P., Maruyama, K., Kidokoro, S., Fujita, Y., Fujita, M., Umezawa, T., Sawano, Y., Miyazono, K., Tanokura, M., Shinozaki, K. and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K.(2008) Arabidopsis DREB2A-interacting proteins function as RING E3 ligases and negatively regulate plant drought stress-responsive gene expression. Plant Cell20, 1693-1707.
  8. Tran, L.-S. P., Urao, T., Qin, F., Maruyama, K., Kakimoto, T.,Shinozaki, K., and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K. (2007) Functional analysis of AHK1/ATHK1 and cytokinin receptor histidine kinases in response to abscisic acid, drought and salt stresses in Arabidopsis. Proc. Natl.Acad. Sci. USA. 104,20623-20628.
  9. Sakuma, Y., Maruyama, K., Qin, F., Osakabe, Y., Shinozaki, K. and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K. (2006) Dual function of an Arabidopsis transcription factor DREB2A in water-stress- and heat-stress-responsive gene expression.Proc. Natl. Acad, Sci. USA. 103, 18828-18833.
  10. Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K., Shinozaki, K. (2006) Transcriptional regulatory networks in cellular responses and tolerance to dehydration and cold stresses.Annu. Rev. Plant Biol. 57: 781-803.
  11. Furihata, T., Maruyama, K., Fujita, Y., Umezawa, T., Yoshida, R., Shinozaki, K. and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K. (2006) ABA-dependent multisite phosphorylation regulates the activity of a transcription activator AREB1. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 103, 1988-1993.
  12. Fujita, Y., Fujita, M., Satoh, R., Maruyama, K., Parvez, M.M., Seki, M., Hiratsu, K., Ohme-Takagi, M., Shinozaki, K. and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K. (2005)AREB1 is a transcription activator of novel ABRE-dependent ABA-signaling that enhances drought stress tolerance in Arabidopsis.Plant Cell17, 3470-3488.
  13. Osakabe, Y., Maruyama, K., Seki, M., Satou, M., Shinozaki, K. and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K. (2005) An LRR receptor kinase, RPK1, is a key membrane-bound regulator of abscisic acid early signaling in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell17, 1105-1119.
  14. Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K. andShinozaki, K. (2005)Organization of cis-acting regulatory elements in osmotic- and cold-stress-responsive promoters. Trends Plant Sci. 10, 88-94.
  15. Tran, L.-S.P., Nakashima, K., Sakuma, Y., Simpson, S.D., Fujita, Y., Maruyama, K., Fujita, M., Seki, M., Shinozaki, K. and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K. (2004) Isolation and functional analysis of Arabidopsis stress-inducible NAC transcription factors that bind to a drought responsive cis-element in the early responsive to dehydration stress 1 promoter. Plant Cell16, 2481-2498.
  16. Abe, H., Urao, T., Ito, T., Seki, M., Shinozaki, K. and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K. (2003)Arabidopsis AtMYC2 (bHLH) and AtMYB2 (MYB) Function as Transcriptional Activators in ABA Signaling. Plant Cell15, 63-78.
  17. Uno, Y., Furihata, T., Abe, H., Yoshida, R., Shinozaki, K. and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K. (2000)Arabidopsis basic leucine zipper transcription factors involved in an abscisic acid-dependent signal transduction pathway under drought and high-salinity conditions.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA.97, 11632-11637.
  18. Kasuga, M., Liu, Q., Miura, S., Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K. andShinozaki, K. (1999)Improving plant drought, salt, and freezing tolerance by gene transfer of a single stress-inducible transcription factor.Nature Biotech. 17, 287-291.
  19. Liu, Q., Kasuga, M., Sakuma, Y., Abe, H., Miura S., Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K. andShinozaki, K. (1998)Two transcription factors, DREB1 and DERB2, with an EREBP/AP2 DNA binding domain separate two cellular signal transduction pathways in drought- and low- temperature-responsive gene expression, respectively, in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell10, 1391-1406.

Sum of Times Cited without self-citations (to 2013): 23594*

Published Items in Total: 280*

H-index: 78*

* The data is retrieved from the web using the key word Yamaguchi-ShinozakiKazuko in 2013.

1