How has the remarkable diversity of life on Earth evolved? In the Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Dynamics, we address this fundamental question at the molecular level using plants as model systems. Through chromosomal and functional genomic approaches, we aim to understand the mechanisms that have generated biological diversity.
Research Overview
Sexual reproduction ensures genetic diversity, and the modes of sex determination and their underlying molecular mechanisms are highly diverse. Bryophytes, which are the sister group to vascular plants, determine sex during the haploid generation. Using the model liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, a dioicous species with sex chromosomes, together with a closely related monoicous species, we have conducted comparative genomic analyses to elucidate how sex chromosomes evolved during the transition from dioicy to monoicy. Furthermore, to understand the survival strategies that sessile plants have acquired to adapt to their environments, as well as the molecular mechanisms underlying these strategies, we integrate fieldwork into our research.
