RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science

RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS)

Director: Kazuo Shinozaki (D.Sci.)

The RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) was founded in April 2013. The challenge of the CSRS is to achieve a resource and energy sustainable society through the fusion of different fields, such as biology, chemistry and chemical biology.

Scientists at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) carry out research on carbon, nitrogen and metals, based on a fundamental understanding of biological functions and chemical diversity, with the aim to Contribute to building a more sustainable society. In the carbon project, they are investigating research on CO2 utilization by enhancing photosynthesis, while conducting metabolic engineering research using novel catalysts. In the nitrogen project, they are trying to develop high-yield plants with low input of fertilizers, and efficient ammonia production processes with novel catalysts. Finally in the metal project, they are developing methods for recovering metals from urban mines through biofunctions of plants and microbes. Reduction of the use of rare metals, replacing them with newly developed catalysts using abundant metals is also their mission. In addition, the center is building research infrastructure based on metabolomics and chemical banks to promote the production and use of the biological resources needed for this research.

Deputy Director, CSRS: Hiroyuki Osada (D.Agr.), Kazuki Saito (Ph.D.) and Zhaomin Hou (D.Eng.) Coordinator, CSRS: Yuji Kamiya (Ph.D.)

Core Research

Plant Science

Gene Discovery Research Group - Kazuo Shinozaki (D.Sci.) Plant Productivity Systems Research Group - Hitoshi Sakakibara (D.Agr.) Plant Immunity Research Group - Ken Shirasu (Ph.D.) Plant Genomic Network Research Team - Motoaki Seki (Ph.D.) Plant Symbiosis Research Team - Makoto Hayashi (Ph.D.) Cell Function Research Team - Keiko Sugimoto (Ph.D.) Dormancy and Adaptation Research Unit - Mitsunori Seo (D.Sci.) Signaling Pathway Research Unit - Son Phan Lam Tran (Ph.D.) Regulatory Network Research Unit - Ryoung Shin (Ph.D.) Plant Proteomics Research Unit - Hirofumi Nakagami (Ph.D.)

Metabolomics Research Group - Kazuki Saito (Ph.D.) Metabolic Systems Research Team - Masami Hirai (Ph.D.) Environmental Metabolic Analysis Research team - Jun Kikuchi (Ph.D.) Metabolome Informatics Research Team - Masanori Arita (D.Sci.) Integrated Genome Informatics Research Unit - Tetsuya Sakurai (Ph.D.)

Chemical Biology

Chemical Genomics Research Group - Minoru Yoshida (D.Agr.) Chemical Biology Research Group - Hiroyuki Osada (D.Agr.) Chemical Resource Development Research Unit - Hiroyuki Osada (D.Agr.) Molecular Ligand Target Research Team - Charles Meredith Boone (Ph.D.) NATURAL Product Biosynthesis Research Unit - Shunji Takahashi (D.Sci.) Bio-ACTIVE Compounds Discovery Research Unit - Nobumoto Watanabe (D.Sci.)

Catalytic Chemistry

Advanced Catalysis Research Group - Zhaomin Hou (D.Eng.) Catalysis and Integrated Research Group - Mikiko Sodeoka (D.Phar.) Advanced Elements Chemistry Research Team - Masanobu Uchiyama (D.Phar.) Green Nanocatalysis Research Team - Yasuhiro Uozumi (D.Phar.) Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team - Ryuhei Nakamura (D.Sci.)

Cooperative Division

Biomass Engineering Program Cooperation Division - Minami Matsui (D.Sci.)

Cellulose Production Research Team - Taku Demura (D.Sci.) Synthetic Genomics Research Team - Minami Matsui (D.Sci.) Enzyme Research Team - Keiji Numata (Ph.D.) Bioplastic Research Team - Hideki Abe (Ph.D.) Cell Factory Research Team - Akihiko Kondo (Ph.D.) Biomass Research Platform Team - Kazuo Shinozaki (D.Sci.)

[...] Discovery Platforms Cooperation Division - Minoru Yoshida (D.Agr.)

Chemical Bank Unit for [...] Discovery Platform - Tamio Saito (D.Agr.) Seed Compounds Exploratory Unit for [...] Discovery Platform - Minoru Yoshida (D.Agr.)