Curriculum Vitaes

Fujiwara Makoto

  (藤原 誠)

Profile Information

Affiliation
Associate Professor, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Materials and Life Sciences, Sophia University
Degree
Bachelor(The University of Tokyo)
Master(The University of Tokyo)
Ph. D.(The University of Tokyo)

Researcher number
90332345
J-GLOBAL ID
200901000526942076
researchmap Member ID
5000099166

1) Replication and morphology of plastids in Arabidopsis thaliana
2) Idioblast formation in Egeria densa

(Subject of research)
(1) Genetic control of plastid division.
(2) Cytological analysis of green algae.


Research Interests

 4

Awards

 1

Papers

 73
  • Mitsumasa Hanaoka, Kengo Kanamaru, Makoto Fujiwara, Hideo Takahashi, Kan Tanaka
    EMBO reports, 6(6) 545-50, Jun, 2005  Peer-reviewed
  • Naoki Sato, Masayuki Ishikawa, Makoto Fujiwara, Kintake Sonoike
    Genome Informatics. International Conference on Genome Informatics, 16(2) 56-68, 2005  Peer-reviewed
    Chloroplasts originate from ancient cyanobacteria-like endosymbiont. Several tens of chloroplast proteins are encoded by the chloroplast genome, while more than hundreds are encoded by the nuclear genome in plants and algae, but the exact number and identity of nuclear-encoded chloroplast proteins are still unknown. We describe here attempts to identify a large number of unidentified chloroplast proteins of endosymbiont origin (CPRENDOs). Our strategy consists of whole genome protein clustering by the homolog group method, which is optimized for organism number, and phylogenetic profiling that extract groups conserved in cyanobacteria and photosynthetic eukaryotes. An initial minimal set of CPRENDOs was predicted without targeting prediction and experimentally validated.
  • Makoto T Fujiwara, Ayako Nakamura, Ryuuichi Itoh, Yukihisa Shimada, Shigeo Yoshida, Simon Geir Møller
    Journal of Cell Science, 117(Pt 11) 2399-410, May, 2004  Peer-reviewedLead authorCorresponding author
  • Jodi Maple, Makoto T Fujiwara, Nobutaka Kitahata, Tracy Lawson, Neil R Baker, Shigeo Yoshida, Simon Geir Møller
    Current biology : CB, 14(9) 776-81, May, 2004  Peer-reviewed
  • Akitomo Nagashima, Mitsumasa Hanaoka, Toshiharu Shikanai, Makoto Fujiwara, Kengo Kanamaru, Hideo Takahashi, Kan Tanaka
    Plant & Cell Physiology, 45(4) 357-68, Apr, 2004  Peer-reviewed
    Transcription in higher plant plastids is performed by two types of RNA polymerases called NEP and PEP, and expression of photosynthesis genes in chloroplasts is largely dependent on PEP, a eubacteria-type multi-subunit enzyme. The transcription specificity of PEP is modulated by six nuclear-encoded sigma factors (SIG1 to SIG6) in Arabidopsis thaliana. Here, we show that one of the six sigma factors, SIG5, is induced under various stress conditions, such as high light, low temperature, high salt and high osmotic conditions. Interestingly, transcription from the psbD blue light-responsive promoter (psbD-BLRP) was activated by not only light but also various stresses, and the transcription and the transcriptional activation of psbD-BLRP were abolished in a sig5-2 mutant. This suggests that the PEP holoenzyme containing SIG5 transcribes the psbD-BLRP in response to multiple stresses. Since the seed germination under saline conditions and recovery from damage to the PSII induced by high light were delayed in the sig5-2 mutant, we postulate that SIG5 protects plants from stresses by enhancing repair of the PSII reaction center.
  • Fujiwara MT, Sato N
    Recent Research Developments in Plant Science, 2 219-248, 2004  InvitedLead author
  • Ayako Nakamura, Kanako Higuchi, Hideki Goda, Makoto T Fujiwara, Shinichiro Sawa, Tomokazu Koshiba, Yukihisa Shimada, Shigeo Yoshida
    Plant Physiology, 133(4) 1843-53, Dec, 2003  Peer-reviewed
  • Ayako Nakamura, Yukihisa Shimada, Hideki Goda, Makoto T Fujiwara, Tadao Asami, Shigeo Yoshida
    FEBS Letters, 553(1-2) 28-32, Oct, 2003  Peer-reviewed
  • Masayuki Ichinomiya, Takayuki Motoyama, Makoto Fujiwara, Masamichi Takagi, Hiroyuki Horiuchi, Akinori Ohta
    Microbiology (Reading, England), 148(Pt 5) 1335-47, May, 2002  Peer-reviewed
    The functions of two previously identified chitin synthase genes in Aspergillus nidulans, chsB and chsD, were analysed. First, a conditional chsB mutant was constructed in which the expression of chsB is under the control of a repressible promoter, the alcA promoter, of A. nidulans. Under repressing conditions, the mutant grew slowly and produced highly branched hyphae, supporting the idea that chsB is involved in normal hyphal growth. The involvement of chsB in conidiation was also demonstrated. Next, double mutants of chsB and chsD were constructed, in which chsB was placed under the control of the alcA promoter and chsD was replaced with the argB gene of A. nidulans. These double mutants grew more slowly than the chsB single mutant under high-osmolarity conditions. The hyphae of the double mutant appeared to be more disorganized than those of the chsB single mutant. It was also found that ChsD was functionally implicated in conidiation when the expression of chsB was limited. These results indicate the importance of the ChsD function in the absence of chsB expression. The roles of ChsB and ChsD in hyphal growth and in conidiation were supported by the analysis of the spatial expression patterns of chsB and chsD, using lacZ of Escherichia coli as a reporter gene.
  • Proceedings of the 12th International Congress on Photosynthesis., Dec, 2001  Lead author
  • Ryuuichi Itoh, Makoto Fujiwara, Noriko Nagata, Shigeo Yoshida
    Plant Physiology, 127(4) 1644-1655, Dec, 2001  Peer-reviewed
  • Ryuuichi Itoh, Makoto Fujiwara, Shigeo Yoshida
    Plant Physiology, 127(3) 724-726, Nov, 2001  Peer-reviewed
  • K Kanamaru, A Nagashima, M Fujiwara, H Shimada, Y Shirano, K Nakabayashi, D Shibata, K Tanaka, H Takahashi
    Plant & Cell Physiology, 42(10) 1034-43, Oct, 2001  Peer-reviewed
    A eubacteria-type RNA polymerase (PEP) plays crucial roles for chloroplast development in higher plants. The core subunits are encoded on plastid DNA (rpo genes) while the regulatory sigma factors are encoded on the nuclear DNA (SIG genes). However, the definite gene specificity of each sigma factor is unknown. We recently identified an Arabidopsis recessive pale-green mutant abc1 in which T-DNA is inserted in SIG2 (sigB). In this mutant, almost normal etioplasts were developed under dark conditions while the small chloroplasts with poor thylakoid membranes and stacked lamellar were developed under light conditions. The sig2-1 mutant was deficient in accumulating enough photosynthetic and photosynthesis-related proteins as well as chlorophyll. However, mRNAs of their structural genes were not significantly reduced. Further analyses revealed that several plastid-encoded tRNAs including trnE-UUC that has dual function for protein and ALA biosyntheses were drastically reduced in the sig2-1 mutant. In contrast, nucleus-encoded T7 phage-type RNA polymerase (NEP)-dependent gene transcripts were steadily accumulated in the mutant. These results indicate that progress of chloroplast development requires SIG2-dependent expression of plastid genes, particularly some of the tRNA genes.
  • Makoto Fujiwara, Shigeo Yoshida
    Biochemical Biophysical Research Communications, 287(2) 462-467, Sep, 2001  Peer-reviewedLead authorCorresponding author
  • K Oikawa, M Fujiwara, E Nakazato, K Tanaka, H Takahashi
    Gene, 261(2) 221-8, Dec, 2000  Peer-reviewed
    We have isolated and characterized two genes from Nicotiana tabacum, whose products function as putative sigma factors for plastid RNA polymerase. Since the amino acid sequence deduced from the DNA sequences of both genes showed highly similar to that of the SigA protein of Arabidopsis thaliana, we termed the corresponding genes sigA1 and sigA2, respectively. Transient expression assay using a green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion construct indicated that the N-terminal region of the sigA2 gene product could function as a transit peptide for import into chloroplasts. The gel-blot analysis of RNAs revealed that the sum of the sigA1 and sigA2 transcripts fluctuated apparently with an endogenous rhythm after 12-h-light, 12-h-dark entrainment in photomixotrophically cultured tobacco cells. RT-PCR based northern analysis revealed that the sigA1 and sigA2 transcripts increased along with the cell growth in cultured cells, and were most abundant in mature leaves and shoot meristems with very young leaves in tobacco plants. Immunoblot analysis of the cell extracts of tobacco plants also supports this notion. These results suggest that the sigma factors encoded by sigA1 and sigA2 play a role in chloroplast development and regulation of gene expression in matured chloroplasts.
  • Y Shirano, H Shimada, K Kanamaru, M Fujiwara, K Tanaka, H Takahashi, K Unno, S Sato, S Tabata, H Hayashi, C Miyake, A Yokota, D Shibata
    FEBS Letters, 485(2-3) 178-82, Nov, 2000  Peer-reviewed
    Development of plastids into chloroplasts, the organelles of photosynthesis, is triggered by light. However, little is known of the factors involved in the complex coordination of light-induced plastid gene expression, which must be directed by both nuclear and plastid genomes. We have isolated an Arabidopsis mutant, abc1, with impaired chloroplast development, which results in a pale green leaf phenotype. The mutated nuclear gene encodes a sigma factor, SigB, presumably for the eubacterial-like plastid RNA polymerase. Our results provide direct evidence that a nuclear-derived prokaryotic-like SigB protein, plays a critical role in the coordination of the two genomes for chloroplast development.
  • Kengo Kanamaru, Makoto Fujiwara, Meesoon Kim, Akitomo Nagashima, Emi Nakazato, Kan Tanaka, Hideo Takahashi
    41(10) 1119-1128, Oct, 2000  Peer-reviewed
  • M Fujiwara, A Nagashima, K Kanamaru, K Tanaka, H Takahashi
    FEBS Letters, 481(1) 47-52, Sep, 2000  Peer-reviewed
    Three new nuclear genes (sigD, sigE and sigF) of Arabidopsis thaliana, encoding putative plastid RNA polymerase sigma factors, were identified and analyzed. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that higher plant sigma factors fell into at least four distinct subgroups within a diverse protein family. In addition, Arabidopsis sig genes contained conserved chromosomal intron sites, indicating that these genes arose by DNA duplication events during plant evolution. Transcript analyses revealed two alternatively spliced transcripts generated from the sigD region, one of which is predicted to encode a sigma protein lacking the carboxy-terminal regions 3 and 4. Finally, the amino-terminal sequence of the sigF gene product was shown to function as a plastid-targeting signal using green fluorescent protein fusions.
  • M Fujiwara, M Ichinomiya, T Motoyama, H Horiuchi, A Ohta, M Takagi
    Journal of Biochemistry, 127(3) 359-366, Mar, 2000  Peer-reviewed
  • K Kanamaru, M Fujiwara, M Seki, T Katagiri, M Nakamura, N Mochizuki, A Nagatani, K Shinozaki, K Tanaka, H Takahashi
    Plant & Cell Physiology, 40(8) 832-42, Aug, 1999  Peer-reviewed
    In plant cells, plastid DNA is transcribed by at least two types of RNA polymerase, plastid-encoded RNA polymerase (PEP) and nuclear-encoded RNA polymerase (NEP). PEP is homologous to eubacterial transcription machinery, but its regulatory subunit, sigma (sigma) factor, is not encoded on the plastid DNA. We previously cloned the three nuclear-encoded sigma factor genes from Arabidopsis thaliana and designated them as sigA, sigB, and sigC. By means of RFLP mapping, sigA and sigB were mapped on chromosome I and sigC on the chromosome III. Based on comparison of the genomic structure of the three sig genes, intron sites in the 3' half of the genes were shown to be identical between sigB and sigC but divergent in sigA, consistent with the phylogenetic relevance of the three gene products. A transient expression assay of GFP fusions in Arabidopsis protoplasts showed that the N-termini of all three sig gene products functioned as chloroplast-targeting signals. We also constructed transgenic Arabidopsis lines harboring the sigA-promoter or the sigB-promoter uidA fusion. Both the sigA- and sigB-promoters were similarly activated at cotyledons, hypocotyls, rosette leaves, cauline leaves, sepals, and siliques but not at roots, seeds, or other flower organs. In addition, the two promoters were repeatedly activated in young seedlings under continuous light, possibly in an oscillated fashion.
  • H Horiuchi, M Fujiwara, S Yamashita, A Ohta, M Takagi
    Journal of Bacteriology, 181(12) 3721-3729, Jun, 1999  Peer-reviewed
  • M Fujiwara, H Horiuchi, A Ohta, M Takagi
    Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 236(1) 75-78, Jul, 1997  Peer-reviewed
  • T Motoyama, M Fujiwara, N Kojima, H Horiuchi, A Ohta, M Takagi
    Molecular & General Genetics, 253(4) 520-528, Jan, 1997  Peer-reviewed

Books and Other Publications

 4

Presentations

 54

Research Projects

 17

Social Activities

 1

Media Coverage

 2