llee12Transplanting rice plants with students from the lab at HUʼs agricultural field; rice plants are individually placed in buckets for cultivation.Ovule inside the pistil in the rice flower; the pistil in the mutant rice strain tab1 appears normal, but no ovule grows inside.Female doctoral students (D1 to D3) who are motivated to play an active role in science and technology fields are selected as STEM Female Research Fellows and receive stipends (equivalent to living expenses) and research funding. With the fellowship, we provide an environment where students can concentrate on their research. Furthermore, we also provide support to master's degree students who have the desire to advance to the doctoral program, and if students receiving support advance to the doctoral program at our university, they are guaranteed STEM Female Research Fellow positions.hat special efforts can you think of in order to increase crop yields? One possible approach is develop-ing crops that are resistant to diseases and pests. Many researchers all over the world are already working on this solution. Recently, with the growing frequency of extreme meteorolog-ical phenomena and issues related to climate change, there has been a surge of research focused on breeding crops that can withstand environmental stress. A less well-known method for improving crop yields involves modifying the morphological trait of crops themselves.One of the most significant events in agricultur-al history related to this was the Green Revolution, which took place between the 1940s and 1960s. The Green Revolution was the event wherein the modification of the morphological traits of crops most significantly contributed to boosting yields. Before the Green Revolution, traditional wheat and rice varieties would grow taller when fertilized, making them more prone to getting toppled by strong winds and rain. The semi-dwarf varieties ̶ crops with shorter stalks ̶ introduced during the Green Revolution showed improved resistance to being blown down by storms (a trait known as “lodging resistance”), leading to dramatic increases in harvests. This showed that modifying the morphological trait of crops is highly effective in improving their yields. However, such modifications would first require a good under-standing of how crops develop their morpho-logical traits.My research team is working to unravel how rice plants develop their morphological traits by studying gene functions. Our research is characterized by the focus placed on traits such as flowers and tillers (rice plant branches) that directly affect rice yield. Recently, we discov-ered a gene that is responsible for producing ovules, which are critical to rice formation. Ovules are located inside the pistil and are not visible from the outside of the flower. However, once pollination occurs, the ovules develop into seeds (rice grains), making them a vital part of the plantʼs reproductive system. Until recently, little was known about the genes involved in ovule formation, with almost no research conducted in this regard. We went ahead and analyzed a mutant rice strain called □□□□, in which the function of the □□□□ gene is lost. We discovered that the plants of this strain completely lacked ovules inside their pistils, thus failing to produce seeds. Detailed morphological and molecular analysis allowed us to determine that the □□□□ gene plays a crucial role in the proper formation of ovules, which ultimately leads to the production of seeds. In short, without the □□□□ gene, rice plants cannot yield rice grains.Today, more than 60 years after the Green Revolution, the world is facing an even more severe food crisis due to a rapidly growing global population. This makes research aimed at increasing crop yields more important than ever. Furthermore, developing crops that can tolerate the effects of climate change has become an urgent challenge. So I intend to continue my research on the genes that control rice plant development, and I hope that our findings will lead to developing new breeding technologies that will contribute to the stable supply and increased production of rice in the future.At Hiroshima University, there are many other researchers who pursue research in diverse segments of plant science, and they can work together at the Plant Research Center to Create a Green Revolution from Hiroshima University. It provides an incredible environment in which researchers can pursue their research, including joint projects beyond their usual team affiliation, in an intellectually stimulating camaraderie. I hope to further my research there to contribute to society. Associate ProfessorGraduate Schoolof Integrated Sciences for LifeSchool of Applied Biological ScienceResearch interestsPlant development, plant breeding〈Background photo〉Rice plants growing in a paddy field; studies that cannot be conducted in laboratories, such as large-scale morphological and harvesting surveys are conducted in actual paddy fields.PistilPistilNormal rice plantMutant rice strain□□□□□StamenStamenStamenStamenPistilPistilScholarship system for female graduate studentsin science and engineering fieldsOOvvuuUniversity of World-wide Repute and Splendor for Years into the Future ▼▼▼Researchers Leading the WorldTANAKA WakanaUnderstanding rice plant developmentbetter to contribute to stable rice supplyHiroshima University FellowshipHiroshima University Fellowshipfor Female Graduate Studentsfor Female Graduate Studentsin Science and Technologyin Science and TechnologyW
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