Metabolic Engineering Group is working on projects to develop new
technology for the improvement of gentian cultivation. Gentians such as Gentiana triflora and G. scabra are important ornamental
flowers in Japan, but their biology; especially, mechanisms of flowering and
dormancy remain largely unknown. The complete understanding of the mechanisms
may allow control of flowering time and stable production for several years,
resulting in industry promotion of gentians. Research contents of our group
1. Studies on flowering mechanism of gentians We are now studying the
expression of flowering-related genes to clarify gentian flowering. To date, we
isolated and characterized gentian orthologues of the FT/TFL1 gene family, denoted GtFTs
and GtTFL1, which control flowering
time of G. triflora, G. scabra, and their hybrids. Our group
plans to explore environmental cues inducing a gentian flowering using these
genes. 
2. Studies on dormancy mechanism of gentians Gentians produce overwintering buds (OWBs) in autumn to survive the winter. Dormant OWBs have high tolerance to cold and freeze, but insufficient dormant OWBs cannot survive the winter. Our group performed metabolome analysis using Q-TOFMS and revealed metabolic changes during dormancy. When the dormancy mechanism is completely understood, we can regulate dormancy processes to provide a stable production of gentians. Contact Iwate Biotechnology Research Center 22-174-4, Narita, Kitakami, 024-0003, Iwate, Japan Telephone: +81-197-68-2911 Fax: +81-197-68-3881 E-mail: h-takahashi @ibrc.or.jp |
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