Visiting PhD Student
Originally from Mexico, Takehiro did his undergraduate at Tec de Monterrey, campus Guadalajara. Then, he got his MSc in Plant Biotechnology at Cinvestav Irapuato Unit, where he is currently doing his PhD under the supervision of Dr. Edmundo Lozoya Gloria. His research is mainly focused on studying signaling pathways that regulate cell growth and metabolic processes in microalgae, particularly in the oil-producing green microalga Botryococcus braunii. Since 2023, he is a visiting student in the Sustainable & Synthetic Biotechnology (SSB) Lab at KAUST under the supervision of Professor Kyle Lauersen.
His current research aims to understand the metabolic trade-off between biomass productivity and accumulation of energy storage molecules in green microalgae by studying the Target of Rapamycin (TOR) signaling pathway, which is a central regulator of cell metabolism and growth in eukaryotes. In the SSB Lab, he is currently working to develop novel sustainable extraction methods to efficiently extract the long-chain hydrocarbons produced by Botryococcus braunii race B without damaging the microalgal cells.
Lozoya-Gloria, E., Morales-de la Cruz, X., & Ozawa-Uyeda, T. A. (2019). The colonial microalgae Botryococcus braunii as biorefinery. Microalgae-from physiology to application, 123-144. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.88206
Ongoing thesis project: Role of the TOR signaling pathway in the hydrocarbon-producing green microalga Botryococcus braunii race B (Showa strain). Thesis Advisor: Edmundo Lozoya Gloria, Ph.D.