Masakazu Iwai
Biologist Research Scientist
Building: 927 (Koshland Hall), Room 431
Mail Stop: 927-0441
Phone: (510) 642-4034
MIwai@lbl.gov
https://masakazuiwai.github.io
Links
Research Interests
- Molecular interactions with a special focus on light-harvesting complex proteins and photosystem protein supercomplexes in thylakoid membranes
- Molecular mechanisms of excitation energy transfer between light-harvesting complex proteins and photosystem protein supercomplexes
- Live-cell visualization of protein diffusion, membrane structures, and dynamics in chloroplast thylakoid membranes at subdiffraction resolution
- Molecular evolution of light-harvesting complex proteins during plant terrestrialization
Recent Publications
Related News
Biosciences FY25 LDRD Projects
The projects of 23 Biosciences Area scientists and engineers received funding through the FY25 Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program.
Biosciences Area FY24 LDRD Projects
The projects of 21 Biosciences Area scientists and engineers received funding through the FY24 Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program.
Photosynthesis, Like a Moss
Using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), which allows an unprecedented level of resolution, Biosciences researchers compared the structure of photosystem I in the moss Physcomitrella patens with its structure in the small flowering land plant Arabidopsis thaliana, and in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Because moss evolved after algae but before vascular land plants, such comparisons can shed light on how plants evolved to move from the ocean to land.
