Research Support
SPIRITS

Construction of an international research network for duckweed and scheme for the application to water environmental improvement

Project Gist

World-wide network formation at Kyoto University for duckweed researchers

Keywords

Duckweed, Plant Sciences, Applications, Environmental remediation

Background and Purpose

Duckweeds are flat and tiny plants, and they have been used as experimental materials in laboratory for years. Recently, they have been regarded as promising materials for bioremediation of waste/polluted water and for biomass production. This project aims at forming an international network for researchers on duckweed plants. This network based at Kyoto University will become a pivot for duckweed users including researchers, educators, engineers, and people who have an interest in plants.

Project Achievements

The largest achievement of this project was the success of the 3rd International Conference on Duckweed Research and Applications. Through fruitful discussion among duckweed researchers of various specialized fields from various countries, a tight and wide research network was formed. This network has been a basis for plans for new projects to challenge the biomass production of duckweed with a growth promotion by useful bacteria, and also for further accessibility of duckweed as “model” plant materials by determining genome sequences of many duckweed species.

Future Prospects

Through the research network for duckweed users, challenges to industrialization using duckweed for bioremediation/biomass production will be promoted. Furthermore, availability of duckweed for plant sciences will be well known and the population of duckweed users will be increased to diversify their research fields.

Figure

Group photo of The 3rd International Conference on Research and Applications (Science Seminar House of the Faculty of Sciences, Kyoto University, July 2015)
Poster for The 3rd International Conference on Research and Applications
The international network at Kyoto University for duckweed researchers

Principal Investigator

OYAMA Tokitaka

・OYAMA Tokitaka
・Graduate School of Sciences
・PhD (Kyoto University, 1998). After 2.5-year Post-doctoral fellow positions, he obtained a position of an assistant professor at Nagoya University in 2000, then moved to Kyoto University in 2008. He has been studying biological clocks of photosynthetic organisms. He monitored “luminous” duckweed plants for time of a day around the clock.
http://cosmos.bot.kyoto-u.ac.jp/clock/