I
am a post-doctoral fellow (funded by JSPS) in Plant Ecology and
Biodiversity group at Utrecht University. I am interested in how plants
adjust physiological and morphological traits to different
environments. One of the most important and well-measured traits that
can explain differences of plant growth strategy is leaf mass per area
(LMA, inverse of specific leaf area) (e.g. Poorter & Remkes 1990).
However, physiological cause and ecological consequence of change in
LMA are not so clear. Physiologically LMA may be correlated with the
amount of cell walls (Onoda et al. 2004), and ecologically LMA is
important for leaf strength and longevity (Wright et al. 2004). To
reveal functional relationship between physiology and ecological
significance of LMA should be important to understand diverse of plant
strategies. Currently I am working on this subject focusing on leaf
biomechanics and physiology/anatomy of cell walls.
Approach
With Niels Anten, we
established several methods to evaluate mechanical properties of leaf
and applying these to plants grown at different growth conditions and
to different species. Knowledge of material science (engineer’s
theory) is useful to analyse biomechanics of leaf. Stretch test and
bending test are often used to evaluate mechanical properties of
materials in engineering. For the case of leaf, punch-and-die
(penetrating) and shearing (cutting) test are also useful to evaluate
fracture properties of leaf (e.g. Aranwela et al. 1999; Wright &
Cannon 2001). We have established these four methods (more info) and
use them for experiments.
Differences in
mechanical properties are analyzed with respect to anatomy and
physiology of leaf. Geometry of tissue is analyzed with microscopic
observation and engineer’s theory. For physiology of cell walls,
I have used several methods to extract cell walls, and so far the PAW
(phenol-acetic acid-water) extraction seems to be most useful for a
wide range of species. Quantification of the cell walls is used for
cost-benefit analysis of mechanical properties.
Current
research topics
#
Effect of light and nutrient availabilities on leaf biomechanics and
photosynthesis.
#
Effect of wind and mechanical stress on biomechanics of lamina and petiole
(with Rafael Alcara Herrera, Msc student).
#
Change in C- and N allocation and mechanical properties of leaf with senescence
(with Yuko Yasumura).
#
Evaluation of mechanical properties of leaf epidermis and mesophyll.
#
Biomechanical aspect of induced resistance to herbivory in clonal plants (collaboration with Sara Gomez and Josef F. Stufer, Nijmegen Univ.)
Other research (-2005)
In my PhD at Tadaki
Hirose & Kouki Hikosaka Lab (Tohoku Univ., 2002-2005), I had two
lines of research. One was to study change in leaf nitrogen
partitioning between cell walls and photosynthesis and that among
photosynthetic components. Another was to study plant response to CO2
enrichment with natural CO2 springs. These studies were summarized in
my PhD thesis “Leaf nitrogen partitioning and photosynthesis of
plants in changing environments” (Abstract of the chapters) and
international journals.
I was also involved in the Rice-FACE project to study effect of elevated CO2 level on rice production (Anten et al. 2004).
Publications
1. Onoda Y, Hikosaka K,
Hirose T (2004) Nitrogen allocation to cell walls decreases
photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency. Functional Ecology 18,
419-425
2. Anten NPR,
Hirose T, Onoda Y, Kinugasa T, Kim HY, Okada M, Kobayashi K (2004)
Elevated CO2 and nitrogen availability have interactive effects on
canopy carbon gain in rice. New Phytologist 161, 459-472
3. Onoda Y, Hikosaka K,
Hirose T (2005a) Seasonal change in the balance between capacities of
RuBP carboxylation and RuBP regeneration affects CO2 response of
photosynthesis in Polygonum cuspidatum. Journal of Experimental Botany
56, 755-763
4. Hikosaka K, Onoda Y,
Kinugasa K, Anten NPR, Nagashima H, Hirose T (2005) Plant responses to
elevated CO2 at different scales: leaves, whole plants, canopies, and
populations. Ecological Research 20, 243-253
5.
Yasumura Y, Onoda Y, Hikosaka K, Hirose T (2005) Nitrogen resorption
from leaves with different growth irradiance in three deciduous woody
species. Plant Ecology, 178: 29-37
6. Onoda Y, Hikosaka K,
Hirose T (2005b) The balance between RuBP carboxylation and RuBP
regeneration: a mechanism underlying the interspecific variation in
acclimation of photosynthesis to seasonal change in temperature.
Functional Plant Biology 32: 903-910
7. Onoda Y, Hikosaka K, Hirose T. (2005c) Natural CO2 springs in Japan: A case study of vegetation dynamics. Phyton 45, 389-394
8. Hikosaka K, Ishikawa
K, Borjigidai A, Muller O, Onoda Y (2006) Temperature acclimation of
photosynthesis: mechanisms involved in the changes in temperature
dependence of photosynthetic rates. Journal of Experimental Botany, 57:
291-302.
9. Onoda Y, Hirose T, Hikosaka K
(2007) Effect of elevated CO2 levels on leaf starch, nitrogen
and photosynthesis of plants growing at three natural CO2
springs in Japan. Ecological Research 22, 475-484.
10. Ishikawa K, Onoda Y,
Hikosaka K (2007) Intraspecific variation in temperature
dependence of gas exchange characteristics of Plantago asiatica
ecotypes from different temperature regimes. New Phytologist
176, 356-364.
11. Onoda Y (2007) Natural CO2 springs: Natural laboratory to
study long-term response to elevated CO2. Japanese Journal of
Ecology. 57: 145-158.
12. Onoda Y, Schieving F, Anten NPR (2008) Effects of light and
nutrient availability on leaf mechanical properties of Plantago
major: a conceptual approach. Annals of Botany (in press).
CV (pdf file)
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