Research

Regulation of chloroplast development in plants

Chloroplast development is one of the determinant processes of plant growth. My goals are to understand how chloroplasts develop from other plastids and how the processes are regulated according to host cell functions.

Biosynthesis and roles of chloroplast membrane lipids

Polar glycerolipids are essential for forming biological membranes as main constituents. Unlike other membranes in plant cells, where phospholipids mainly make the lipid bilayer, thylakoid and envelope membranes in chloroplasts have very unique lipid compositions, with glycolipids accounting for ~90% of total membrane lipids. I am studying roles of polar glycerolipids in membrane biogenesis and photosynthesis of chloroplasts and plant development.

Regulation of chlorophyll biosynthesis in plants

Chlorophyll is an essential component of photosynthetic apparatus to capture light energy and harness it for electron transport reactions. On the other hand, chlorophyll and its intermediates possess photosensizing activities, which generate reactive oxygen species under light, so the biosynthesis, transport, maintenance and degradation of these compounds should be strictly regulated in response to functional states of chloroplasts. My research aims to understand the regulatory mechanisms involved in these processes at molecular levels.