INUI Group | Response to Environmental Materials, Division of Signal Responses, Biosignal Research Center, Kobe University | Environmental Material Science, Division of Agroenvironmental Biology, Department of Agrobioscience, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University

Research outline

The environment surrounding us is overflowing with various pollutants: heavy metals, such as cadmium, mercury, and arsenic; organic compounds, such as dioxin, polychlorinated biphenyls, and residual pesticides; and the others, such as sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, asbestos, and radioactive compounds. Everything was produced at a cost for us to have an abundant life.

Among these, the organic compounds having long-distance mobility, persistency, properties of bioaccumulation, and toxicity are called persistent organic pollutants (POPs). It is known that POPs have spread to the Arctic and Antarctic. In addition, they are less susceptible to decomposition by microorganisms in the environment and have the property of being easily accumulated in fat. This renders it toxic to humans and wild animals, as the pollutant gets concentrated in the organism through the food chain.

Recognizing this threat, countries around the world have abolished or limited the production and use of POPs, reduced emissions, and made policies for its proper disposal. Unfortunately, despite increasing the number of pollutants determined as POPs every year, and taking counter measures, environmental pollution caused by POPs continues to be on the rise rather than disappear.

In addition to removing POPs from the environment, our group aims to develop a technology that will prevent its incorporation into the food chain. In particular, we can secure safe crops by paying attention to sophisticated functions (degradation, uptake) of organisms, elucidating their molecular mechanisms, and applying them.

News

2024.4.3

The paper published in Salt and Seawater Science & Technology "Quantifying Inorganic Phosphate in Salts Using Capillary Zone Electrophoresis with Transient Isotachophoresis, Fukushi,K., Tsujimoto, J.-i., Hotta, H., Okamura, H., Inui, H., 4, 15-19, 2024" was awarded by The Society of Sea Water Science, Japan, Best Paper Award 2023.
2023.3.24

Mr Kawahara graduated from Faculty of Agriculture. Mr Yoshida graduated from Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Congratulations!
2024.2.10

The book series of Springer Nature published The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry including "Remediation of soils contaminated with PFAS: an update on available techniques, pilot studies, challenges and future directions".
2024.2.1

The paper entitled "Quantifying Inorganic Phosphate in Salts Using Capillary Zone Electrophoresis with Transient Isotachophoresis" was accepted by Salt and Seawater Science & Technology.
2023.10.30

The paper entitled "Cucurbit plants for remediation of soils polluted with persistent and emerging organic pollutants: State of the art, future perspectives and challenges" was accepted by Advances in Botanical Research.
2023.10.28

Our paper published in Environmental Science & Technology was selected as Best Paper by Rikusou-kai (Alumni association of Faculty of Agriculture, Kobe University).
2023.9.6

Assoc. Prof. Inui was selected as a scientific member of University of Lodz, Faculty of Biolody and Environmental Protection.
2023.6.12

The paper entitled "Cucurbita pepo contains characteristic proteins without a signal peptide in the xylem sap" was accepted by Journal of Plant Physiology.
2023.5.24

The paper entitled "Enhanced metabolism of 2,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl (CB118) by bacterial cytochrome P450 monooxygenase mutants from Bacillus megaterium" was accepted by Science of the Total Environment.
2023.5.1

The paper entitled "Major latex-like proteins show pH dependency on their binding to hydrophobic organic pollutants" was accepted by Journal of Pesticide Science.
2023.3.24

Ms. Chujo, Ms. Chitose, and Mr Azuma graduated from Faculty of Agriculture. Ms. Tanaka, Ms. Sonoda, and Mr Tsuzuki graduated from Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Congratulations!
2023.3.14

The paper published in Salt and Seawater Science & Technology "Simultaneous Determination of Iodide and Iodate in Salts Using Capillary Zone Electrophoresis with Transient Isotachophoresis, Fukushi,K., Hotta, H., Okamura, H., Inui, H., 3, 37-44, 2023" was awarded by The Society of Sea Water Science, Japan, Best Paper Award 2022.
2023.2.13

Podcast "Can plants save the world?" recorded in University Lodz, Poland in 2022 was opened. English interview starts from 12 min. Recording view is also opened.
2023.2.6

The paper entitled "Residue distribution and daily exposure of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in Indica and Japonica rice" was accepted by Environmental Science & Technology.
2022.11.25

Our research "New insight into how long-banned chemicals (PCBs) unleash their toxicity inside the body" was introduced in the Web sites of Kobe University, EurekAlert!, and Alpha Galileo.
2022.11.2

Our research "Clarification of enantioselective accumulation of chiral polychlorinated biphenyls by the structural basis of mammalian drug-metabolizing enzymes" was introduced in the web page of Kobe University (in Japanese).
2022.10.20

Research activities collaborated with Prof. Urbaniak and Dr. Mierzejewska were introduced by the web page of University of Lodz.
2022.10.13

We are waiting for your application to a 3-year doctoral programme of Graduate School of Agricultura Science, Kobe University. If you have an interest to our research, please contact us.
2022.9.22

Two Polish scientists joined to our laboratory.
2022.9.22

Kentaro Fujita earned PhD. Congratulations!
2022.9.14

Presentation "Application of Biological Functions of Plants for Monitoring and Remediation of Environmental Pollutants" was opened at Polish Academy of Sciences.
2022.9.2

The paper entitled "Enantioselective Metabolism of Chiral Polychlorinated Biphenyl 2,2′,3,4,4′,5′,6-Heptachlorobiphenyl (CB183) by Human and Rat CYP2B Subfamilies" was accepted by Chemosphere.
2022.7.7

Mr. Kentaro Fujita was awarded by Maenosono Best Paper Award for Young Scienctits.
2022.6.29

The paper entitled "Differences in enantioselective hydroxylation of 2,2′,3,6-tetrachlorobiphenyl (CB45) and 2,2′,3,4′,6-pentachlorobiphenyl (CB91) by human and rat CYP2B subfamilies" was accepted by Environmental Science & Technology.
2022.6.27

The paper entitled "A20/AN1 zinc-finger proteins positively regulate major latex-like proteins, transporting factors toward dioxin-like compounds in Cucurbita pepo" was accepted by Chemosphere.
2022.5.13

The paper entitled "Genome-wide identification and characterization of major latex-like protein genes responsible for crop contamination in Cucurbita pepo" was accepted by Molecular Biology Reports.
2022.5.7

The paper entitled "Hydroxylation and dechlorination of 3,3′,4,4′-tetrachlorobiphenyl (CB77) by rat and human CYP1A1s and critical roles of amino acids composing their substrate-binding cavity" was accepted by Science of the Total Environment.
2022.3.25

Ms. Nakamura, Mr Yoshida graduated from University. Congratulations!
2021.11.17

The paper entitled "MLP-PG1, a major latex-like protein identified in Cucurbita pepo, confers resistance through the induction of pathogenesis-related genes" was accepted by Planta.
2021.10.28-29

Lab members had presentations at 38th Symposium on Environmental Science of Pesticide. Best Poster Award was presented to Ms. Chihiro Sonoda by the Special Committee on Environmental Pesticide Scienceof the Pesticide Science Society of Japan. Congratulations!
2021.10.1

Three students joined the team.
2021.9.9

Our research "Environmental monitoring of organic pollutants using plants" was introduced in the Web sites of Kobe University, EurekAlert!, and Alpha Galileo.
2021.7.21

The paper entitled "Simple monitoring of endocrine-disrupting chemicals using transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing medaka estrogen receptor" was accepted by Chemosphere.
2021.6.26

The paper entitled "Determining fluoride in salts using capillary zone electrophoresis with transient isotachophoresis" was accepted by Salt and Seawater Science & Technology.
2021.6.10

The paper entitled "Transport enhancement of hydrophobic pollutants by the expression of zucchini major latex-like protein genes in tobacco plants" was accepted by Journal of Plant Physiology.
2021.5.31

The review paper entitled "How does the Cucurbitaceae family take up organic pollutants (POPs, PAHs, and PPCPs)?" was accepted by Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology.
2021.4.1

One master course student joined the team.
2021.3.25

Ms. Ishida, Ms. Tanaka, Ms. Sonoda, and Ms. Sakai graduated from University. Congratulations!
2021.2.26

The paper published in Journal of Pesticide Science "High temperatures promote the uptake of hydrophobic pollutants by Cucurbita pepo via altered gene expression levels of major latex-like proteins, Inui, H., Katte, N., Goto, J., Iwabuchi, A., 45(2), 75-80, 2020" was awarded by Pesticide Science Society of Japan, Best Paper Award 2021.
2021.2.15

The review paper entitled "Biological functions of major latex-like proteins in plants" was accepted by Plant Science.
2020.10.1

Two students joined the team.
2020.7.27

Our research "Pesticides can protect crops fro hydrophobic pollutants" was introduced in the Web sites of Kobe University, EurekAlert!, and Alpha Galileo.
2020.7.3

The paper entitled "Pesticide treatment reduces hydrophobic pollutant contamination in Cucurbita pepo through competitive binding to major latex-like proteins" was accepted by Environmental Pollution.
2020.6.20

The paper entitled "Suppression of the genes responsible for transporting hydrophobic pollutants leads to the production of safer crops" was accepted by Science of the Total Environment.
2020.3.19

The paper entitled "Effects of Arabidopsis Ku80 deletion on the integration of the left border of T-DNA into plant chromosomal DNA via Agrobacterium tumefaciens" was accepted by Genes and Genetic Systems.
2020.2.10

Visiting Prof. Mikael Motelica-Heino from University of Orléans, France, will have a seminar on 20 Feb.
2020.1.27

Prof. Mikael Motelica-Heino from University of Orléans, France, joined our laboratory as Visiting Professor.
2019.12.28

The paper entitled "High temperatures promote the uptake of hydrophobic pollutants by Cucurbita pepo via altered gene expression levels of major latex-like proteins" was accepted by Journal of Pesticide Science.
2019.12.4

The paper entitled "Factors regulating the differential uptake of persistent organic pollutants in cucurbits and non-cucurbits" was accepted by Journal of Plant Physiology.
2019.11.21-22

Lab members had presentations at 37th Symposium on Environmental Science of Pesticide. Best Poster Award was presented to Mr. Kentaro Fujita by the Special Committee on Environmental Pesticide Scienceof the Pesticide Science Society of Japan. Congratulations!
2019.10.25-26

Lab members had presentations at 16th International Symposium on Persistent Toxic Substances.
2019.10.1

Two students joined the lab.
2019.8.26-30

Lab members had presentations at 39th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants.
2019.7.19

Asoc. Prof. Vladimir Beskoski will have a presentation entitled "From classical to sophisticated methods in the analysis of biodegradation / bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbons and POPs" on 19 August.
2019.7.3

Assoc. Prof. Vladimir Beskoski from University of Belgrade, Serbia, joined our laboratory as JSPS Invited Fellow.
2019.6.12-14

Lab members had presentations at 28th Symposium on Environmental Chemistry, Saitama 2019, Japan.
2019.3.26

Ms. Suwa, Mr. Ito, and Ms. Ishida graduated from University.
2019.3.18

The paper entitled "Uptake Mechanisms of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Cucurbita pepo via Xylem Sap Containing Major Latex-like Proteins" was accepted by Environmental and Experimental Botany.
2019.3.13

Best Student Presentation Award was presented to Mr. Kentaro Fujita by the Pesticide Science Society of Japan. Congratulations!
2019.3.1

Prof. Ivanka Karadzic from University of Belgrade joined to our group.
2019.2.7

Prof. Ivanka Karadzic will stay our laboratory for one month. She'll have a presentation entitled "WOMEN in Serbian Academia - from a personal story to national and global issues -" on 6 March.
2019.1.18

We released the HP of INUI Group.