Sangho Koh, a 2nd year graduate student in the Division of Science and Technology (Professor Yoshihiko Amano and Assistant Professor Masahiro Mizuno), won the Student Poster Award at the 9th International Conference on Fiber and Polymer Biotechnology, held at Osaka Seikei College from September 7 (Wed.) to 9 (Fri.), 2016.

The title of his winning poster is "Enzymatic degradation of synthetic ester substrate mimicking the LCC in plant cell wall." This prize was awarded to a total of 5 posters from among around 40, chosen from among undergraduate and graduate students who were the primary authors of the posters.

Esterase, which hydrolyzes ester bonds that are formed between hemicellulose and lignin, the main components that make up plant cell walls, is one of the key enzymes in the degradation of plant cell walls. However, the problem is that it is extremely difficult to prepare substrates of this enzyme from nature.
In his presentation, the student showed how he prepared a near natural substrate by combining hydrolysis and chemosynthesis and using these to investigate the enzymatic activity of esterase. It is hoped that the achievements from this research will contribute to the use of plant cell walls (biomass).