GO TOP

Field

Ecological Developmental Adaptability Life Sciences :
Biological Dynamics

Research

JAPANESE
Assistant Professor HATA Yuki
Campus Katahira campus
Laboratory Plant Development
Tel +81-22-217-5710
E-mail yuki.hata.a8＠tohoku.ac.jp
orchid
 
I'm interested in how the regularities of traits in diverse living organisms have evolved.
I'm working on plant Evo-Devo research since I was attracted by unique and beautiful geometry in the developmental pattern of bryophytes and ferns. Although the basic plant organs are leaves, stems, and roots, these traits have evolved multiple times independently in the bryophytes, ferns, and seed plant lineages. It is just like "parallel worlds" of living organisms with roots and shoots. Plants' organs are formed from multipotent stem cells maintained in dividing tissues. Thus, I'm trying to explore this parallel world of land plants from the "window" of the stem cells and to reveal regularities in developmental mechanisms underlying land plants' evolution.
 
Career
B.S., Biology, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan, 2018
M.S., Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai Japan, 2020
JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientist DC1 2020-2023
Ph.D., Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai Japan, 2023
Assistant Professor, Tohoku University, 2023-
 
Selected Publications
  • Hata, Y., Naramoto, S. & Kyozuka, J. BLADE-ON-PETIOLE genes are not involved in the transition from protonema to gametophore in the moss Physcomitrella patens. J Plant Res 132, 617–627 (2019). 
  • Naramoto, S., Hata, Y. & Kyozuka, J. The origin and evolution of the ALOG proteins, members of a plant-specific transcription factor family, in land plants. J Plant Res 133, 323–329 (2020). 
  • Hata, Y., Kyozuka, J. Fundamental mechanisms of the stem cell regulation in land plants: lesson from shoot apical cells in bryophytes. Plant Mol Biol 107, 213–225 (2021)
  • Naramoto S, Hata Y, Fujita T, Kyozuka J. The bryophytes Physcomitrium patens and Marchantia polymorpha as model systems for studying evolutionary cell and developmental biology in plants. Plant Cell. 2022;34(1):228-246.
     
Activities in Academic Societies
The Botanical Society of Japan, Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists, Society of Evolutionary Studies, Japan

Recent Activities

Plants can grow through the maintenance of undifferentiated stem cells and organ differentiation, in the dividing tissues at the tip of stems. How have the mechanisms making differences between stem cells and differentiating cells evolved? To reveal this, I'm focusing on the stem cells in bryophytes. Interestingly, bryophytes and most ferns have a single stem cell in contrast to seed plants with multiple stem cells. Through multiple approaches containing live cell imaging and single-cell RNA-seq, I'm examining mechanisms involved in asymmetric cell fate determination occurring at the single-cell level in the bryophytes' stem cell and looking for conserved mechanisms specifying stem cell-ness in land plants.

Message to Students

There are many plants with interesting traits in the field. Through the research of model plants, we can examine such interesting traits or related traits very precisely. I think that is one of the most interesting points in developmental biology. I'd be very happy if you are interested in mechanisms underlying diverse plant shape.

Research