Publications
Selected Papers
Recent (2021~)
- Yuri Ushijima, Le Thuy Thi Nguyen, Annisa Krama, Momoko Matsuoka, Kenta Yamazaki, Terumi Miyata, Masato Higashide, Nghi Bao Nguyen, Mais Maree, Kazuya Morikawa. Distribution and characteristics of methicillin-resistant staphylococci from non-clinical environments in southern Vietnam. BMC Microbiol 26:461. 2026. open access
- Rubén Torres, María López-Sanz, Yuri Ushijima, Kazuya Morikawa, Juan C Alonso. Nucleoid structure and dynamics influence natural chromosomal transformation in Bacillus subtilis: the role of EbfC. Nucleic Acids Res 53, gkaf1051. 2025. open access
- May Thet Paing Phoo, Thitaporn Dechathai, Kamonnut Singkhamanan, Sarunyou Chusri, Rattanaruji Pomwised, Monwadee Wonglapsuwan, Kazuya Morikawa, Komwit Surachat. Pseudomonas aeruginosa affects Acinetobacter baumannii’s growth, gene expression and antibiotic resistance in in vitro co-culture system. Curr Res Microb Sci 9, 100499. 2025. open access
- Mais Maree, Yuri Ushijima, Annisa Krama, Maaya Sasaki, Terumi Miyata, Masato Higashide, Le Thuy Thi Nguyen, Kazuya Morikawa. Mixed-biofilm natural transformation assay reveals the presence of staphylococci in human environments that can transfer SCCmec to Staphylococcus aureus. mSphere 10, e00442-25. 2025. open access
- Mais Maree, Yuri Ushijima, Pedro B Fernandes, Masato Higashide, Kazuya Morkawa. SCCmec transformation requires living donor cells in mixed biofilms. Biofilm 7, 100184. 2024. open access
- Hugo Maruyama, Ryosuke L. Ohniwa, Yuri Ushijima, Kazuya Morikawa, Kunio Takeyasu. Atomic Force Microscopy Imaging and Analysis of Prokaryotic Genome Organization. Methods Mol biol 2819:263-277. 2024. Pubmed
- Kouhei Mizuno, Mais Maree, Toshihiko Nagamura, Akihiro Koga, Satoru Hirayama, Soichi Furukawa, Kenji Tanaka, Kazuya Morikawa. Novel multicellular prokaryote discovered next to an underground stream. eLife 11:e71920. 2022. open access
- Mais Maree, Le Thuy Thi Nguyen, Ryosuke L. Ohniwa, Masato Higashide, Tarek Msadek, Kazuya Morikawa. Natural transformation allows transfer of SCCmec-mediated methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus biofilms. Nat Commun 13,2477. 2022. open access
- Mizuho Fukushige, Ling-Shang Syue, Kazuya Morikawa, Wen-Liang Lin, Nan-Yao Lee, Po-Lin Chen, Wen-Chien Ko. Trend in healthcare-associated infections due to vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus at a hospital in the era of COVID-19: more than hand hygiene is needed. J Microbiol Immunol Infect 2022 doi.org/10.1016/j.jmii.2022.08.003 open access
- Vishal Gor, Ryosuke L. Ohniwa, and Kazuya Morikawa*. No Change, No Life? What We Know about Phase Variation in Staphylococcus aureus. Microorganisms 9, 244. 2021. open access
~2020
- Vishal Gor, Aya J. Takemura, Masami Nishitani, Masato Higashide, Veronica Medrano Romero, Ryosuke L. Ohniwa, and Kazuya Morikawa*. Finding of Agr phase variants in Staphylococcus aureus. mBio 10, e00796-19. 2019. doi: 10.1128/mBio.00796-19 Pubmed
- Kazuya Morikawa*, Yuri Ushijima, Ryosuke L. Ohniwa, Masatoshi Miyakoshi and Kunio Takeyasu*. What happens in the staphylococcal nucleoid under oxidative stress? Microorganisms 7, 631. 2019. open access
- Ushijima Y, Ohniwa RL, Morikawa K. Identification of Nucleoid Associated Proteins (NAPs) Under Oxidative Stress in Staphylococcus aureus. BMC Microbiol published October 2017. pubmed
- Maudsdotter L, Imai S, Ohniwa RL, Saito S, Morikawa K. Staphylococcus aureus dry stress survivors have a heritable fitness advantage in subsequent dry exposure. Microb Infec 17(6):456-61. doi: 10.1016/j.micinf.2015.02.004. 2015. pubmed
- Morikawa K, Takemura AJ, Inose Y, Tsai M, Nguyen Thi le T, Ohta T, Msadek T. Expression of a cryptic secondary sigma factor gene unveils natural competence for DNA transformation in Staphylococcus aureus. PLoS Pathog 8(11):e1003003. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003003. . 2012. pubmed
- Tsai M, Ohniwa RL, Kato Y, Takeshita SL, Ohta T, Saito S, Hayashi H, Morikawa K. Staphylococcus aureus requires cardiolipin for survival under high salinity conditions. BMC Microbiol 11:13. doi: 10.1186/1471-2180-11-13. 2011. pubmed