A research group led by Assistant Professor Kim Eun-cheol of Nihon University and Assistant Professor Marcel Dann of the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany, along with Researcher Konomi Kamata and Professor Jun Minagawa of the National Institute for Basic Biology, Assistant Professor Mami Nomura of Yamagata University, Researcher Mai Watanabe of the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany (currently a specially
appointed assistant professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University), and Professor Shinya Miyagishima of the National Institute of Genetics, has discovered that a protein involved in the formation of thylakoids, a membrane structure essential for photosynthesis, plays a previously unknown role in coordinating the division of the entire cell and the division of chloroplasts within the cell. This mechanism is common to organisms ranging from simple cyanobacteria to complex green algae, and this finding significantly contributes to elucidating the universal mechanism of cell proliferation in photosynthetic organisms.

【日本大学プレスリリース】https://www.u-presscenter.jp/article/post-57597.html
【発表雑誌】Nature Communiations
【論文名】CurT/CURT1 proteins are involved in cell and chloroplast division coordination of cyanobacteria and green algae
【著者】Marcel Dann1*, Eunchul Kim1* (1共同主著者、*共同責任著者), Konomi Fujimura-Kamada, Vjosa Berisha, Mami Nomura, Anne-Christin Pohland, Mai Watanabe, Matthias Ostermeier, Frederik Sommer, Michael Schroda,
Shin-ya Miyagishima, Jun Minagawa
【DOI】10.1038/s41467-025-64163-x
【URL】https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64163-x