Herein, the first English article demonstrating the Yagi-Uda antenna is introduced. The article was originally published in the Proceedings of the Imperial Academy of Japan in 1926.

This review outlines research on chemical biology using mainly microbial metabolites for agricultural applications. We established the RIKEN Natural Products Depository (NPDepo), housing many microbial metabolites, to support academic researchers who focus on drug discovery. We studied methods to stimulate secondary metabolism in microorganisms to collect various microbial products. The switch of secondary metabolism in microorganisms changes depending on the culture conditions. We discovered compounds that activate biosynthetic gene clusters in actinomycetes and filamentous fungi. Using these compounds, we succeeded in inducing the production of active compounds. Two approaches for screening bioactive compounds are described. One is phenotypic screening to explore antifungal compounds assisted by artificial intelligence (AI). AI can distinguish the morphological changes induced by antifungal compounds in filamentous fungi. The other is the chemical array method for detecting interactions between compounds and target proteins. Our chemical biology approach yielded many new compounds as fungicide candidates.

The formation of autophagosomes is a pivotal step in autophagy, a lysosomal degradation system that plays a crucial role in maintaining cellular homeostasis. After autophagy induction, phase separation of the autophagy-related (Atg) 1 complex occurs, facilitating the gathering of Atg proteins and organizes the autophagosome formation site, where the initial isolation membrane (IM)/phagophore is generated. The IM then expands after receiving phospholipids from endomembranes such as the endoplasmic reticulum. This process is driven by the collaboration of lipid transfer (Atg2) and scrambling (Atg9) proteins. The IM assumes a cup shaped morphology and undergoes closure, resulting in the formation of a double membrane-bound autophagosome. The Atg8 lipidation system is hypothesized to be a pivotal factor in this process. This review presents an overview of the current understanding of these processes and discusses the basic mechanisms of autophagosome formation.

Cell proliferation is a fundamental characteristic of organisms, driven by the holistic functions of multiple proteins encoded in the genome. However, the individual contributions of thousands of genes and the millions of protein molecules they express to cell proliferation are still not fully understood, even in simple eukaryotes. Here, we present a genome-wide translation map of cells during proliferation in the unicellular alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae, based on the sequencing of ribosome-protected messenger RNA fragments. Ribosome profiling has revealed both qualitative and quantitative changes in protein translation for each gene during cell division, driven by the large-scale reallocation of ribosomes. Comparisons of ribosome footprints from non-dividing and dividing cells allowed the identification of proteins involved in cell proliferation. Given that in vivo experiments on two selected candidate proteins identified a division-phase-specific mitochondrial nucleoid protein and a mitochondrial division protein, further analysis of the candidate proteins may offer key insights into the comprehensive mechanism that facilitate cell and organelle proliferation.