農学部研究紹介英語版2018-2019

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Laboratory of Chemical Biology Masaki IHARA Assosiate Professor Protein Engineering, Molecular Evolution, Algae Breeding, Metabolic Engineering, Nano-Bio Technology The Laboratory of Chemical Biology is developing renewable energy production systems. Due to increasing energy requirements and the simultaneous demands for environmental conservation, the development of novel renewable energy systems is highly desirable; however, most such systems are not economically self-supporting. To achieve a self-supporting energy system that can be mass produced at a low cost, we are focusing on converting solar energy into chemical energy using genetically modified phototrophic bacteria or plants. Theme1 Protein engineering to create algae with a high productivity of formate, hydrogen or isoprenoid. C D For establishment of algae-industry, the modification of algae is needed, and for the modification of algae, the modification of protein and DNA are necessary. Left: Clean bench, Center: Cultures of algae, Right: Spectrometers and HPLC. Biotechnology Division Theme2 High-throughput screening systems to isolate algae with a high sugar productivity from random library. Chemicals Energy Phototrophs Proteins Amino acid polymerization DNA Laboratory of Applied and Molecular Microbiology Takeshi HOSAKA Associate Professor Actinomycetes, Antibiotic, Secondary metabolism, Ribosome engineering, Antibiotic hormesis Actinomycetes produce abundant amounts of numerous bioactive metabolites, including antitumor agents, immunosuppressants and antibiotics in particular. Whole-genome sequencing studies of actinomycete strains have shown that each species could produce many more secondary metabolites than were expected. This indicates that the vast majority of secondary metabolites remain unexpressed or barely expressed under standard laboratory conditions. Thus, there is considerable interest in exploring practical means to induce this genetic potential in actinomycetes, which could result in isolation of novel bioactive secondary metabolites. Our laboratory aims to understand the molecular mechanisms activating secondary metabolism and to establish effective methods for developing cryptic gene clusters for secondary metabolic pathways in microorganisms. Molecular analysis of the activation mechanism for secondary metabolism of microorganisms and its application to the development of new strategies for exploring useful biologically active compounds. Production of useful biologically active compounds by actinomycete strains. Actinomycetes produce abundant amounts of numerous bioactive secondary metabolites. Biotechnology Division Analysis of the molecular mechanisms of antibiotic hormesis, toward understanding the truth about antibiotics, and its applications for antibiotic discovery. Actinomycetes Wild-type strain Mutant strain 32