RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science Ion Beam Breeding Group

Group Director: Yusuke Kazama (Ph. D.)

Japanese Page

Research Summary

We develop tailor-made mutation breeding technologies by precisely controlling ion species, energy, and particle flux of heavy-ion beams to induce mutations in targeted genes and chromosomal regions. We investigate how heavy-ion-induced chromosomal rearrangements affect epigenomic states and gene expression, aiming to understand genome function and phenotypic variation. Building on the breeding achievements established in this laboratory, we integrate fundamental research with applied breeding to advance next-generation crop improvement.

Main Research Fields

Biological Sciences

Related Research Fields

Agricultural Sciences
Informatics
Environmental Science
Complex Systems
Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering
Biology
Science in plant genetics and breeding-related
Horticultural science-related
Genetics-related

Keywords

Heavy ion beam
Chromosomal rearrangement
Epigenetics
DNA repair
Ion beam breeding

Selected Publications

Papers with an asterisk(*) are based on research conducted outside of RIKEN.

1. Ikoma T, Nishijima R, Ikeda M, Ishii K, Nagalla AD, Abe T, Kazama Y
"Effect of heterozygous deletions on phenotypic changes and dosage compensation in Arabidopsis thaliana"
Scientific Reports 15:14284 (2025)
2. *Mayuzumi T, Morizumi S, Ikeda M, Matsunaga S, Kazama Y
"Mutation in OPR3 ortholog affects stamen function but not petal size in Torenia fournieri"
Cytologia 90, 187-194 (2025)
3. Ishii K, Kazama Y, Hirano T, Fawcett JA, Sato M, Hirai MY, Sakai F, Shirakawa Y, Ohbu S, Abe T
"Genomic view of heavy-ion-induced deletions associated with the distribution of essential genes in Arabidopsis thaliana"
Frontiers in Plant Science 15:1352564 (2024)
4. Sanjaya A, Nishijima R, Fujii Y, Asano M, Ishii K, Kazama Y, Abe T, Fujiwara MT
"Rare occurrence of cryptic 5′ splice sites caused by downstream 3′ splice site/exon boundary mutations in a heavy-ion-induced egy1-4 allele of Arabidopsis thaliana"
Frontiers in Plant Science 15:1388040 (2024)
5. *Kazama Y, Kobayashi T, Filatov DA
"Evolution of sex determination in dioecious plants: From active Y to X/A balance?"
BioEssays 45:2300111 (2023)
6. Yue J, Krasovec M, Kazama Y, Zhang X, Xie W, Zhang S, Xu X, Kan B, Ming R, Filatov DA
"The origin and evolution of sex chromosomes revealed by sequencing of the Silene latifolia female genome"
Current Biology 33, 2504-2514 (2023)
7. *Sanjaya A, Kobayashi T, Shinoyama H, Nishijima R, Kazama Y
"Developmental differences between hermaphrodite and female-like flowers in a non-model horticultural plant Dianthus hybrida"
Cytologia 88, 265-272 (2023)
8. Kazama Y, Kitoh M, Kobayashi T, Ishii K, Krasovec M, Yasui Y, Abe T, Kawano S, Filatov DA
"A CLAVATA3-like gene acts as a gynoecium suppression function in White campion"
Molecular Biology and Evolution 39:msac195 (2022)
9. Krasovec M, Kazama Y, Ishii K, Abe T, Filatov DA
"Immediate dosage compensation is triggered by deletion of Y-linked genes in Silene latifolia"
Current Biology 29, 2214-2221 (2019)
10. Kazama Y, Ishii K, Hirano T, Wakana T, Yamada M, Ohbu S, Abe T
"Different mutational effects of low- and high-linear energy transfer heavy-ion irradiation demonstrated by whole genome re-sequencing of Arabidopsis mutants"
The Plant Journal 92, 1020-1030 (2017)

Lab Members

Principal investigator

Yusuke Kazama: Group Director

Core members

Kazuhide Tsuneizumi: Senior Research Scientist
Ryouhei Morita: Technical Scientist
Yuki Shirakawa: Technical Staff I
Mieko Yamada: Technical Staff II

Contact Information

Bioscience Building
2-1 Hirosawa,
Wako, Saitama
351-0198, Japan
Email: ykaze@riken.jp