Prof. ITO Toshiro
Plant Stem Cell Regulation and Floral Patterning
Please tell us about your own research and what you find interesting about it.
I’m studying the gene network of undifferentiated cells that differentiate to form beautiful flowers by responding to environmental factors. There are more than 220,000 species of flowering plants, and their evolutionary diversity is very high. The rationality and order by which plants have created complex and beautiful flowers for survival during evolution are very profound and exciting.
Please tell us about the difficulties and joys of the research field.
The thrill of catching a glimpse of the secrets of a plant is exceptional. If it’s a discovery useful to others and society, there’s no greater happiness than that. The hardest part is the various deadlines that I have to meet every day. However, things do always work out.
Please tell us about the expected results and social significance of the project.
The rice, bread, and fruits we eat every day are all the products of flowers. Our research on flower development will allow us to control fruit size, flower life, and flower maturity. In recent years, we have also been researching drugs that can control the flowering time of plants without genetic modification. This use can reduce the labor of cultivating crops and improve their quality.
A message of support for students who are about to take the exam
Join us in this life-changing study of flower development.
What websites, books, review articles, and so on, do you recommend for studying in order to apply for the lab ?
Plant Science Research Weekly: A weekly plant science research roundup curated and summarized by our Plantae Editors and Fellows
https://plantae.org/research/wwrtw/
What do you do to keep yourself fresh?
Art appreciation and carpentry.