Laboratory of Food Microbial Engineering Masato IKEDA Professor , Ph.D. Keywords: Applied microbiology, Metabolic engineering Corynebacterium glutamicum, Fatty acids and their derivatives, Vitamins Fermentation technology for the production of useful substances is one of the fields in which Japan has led the world. We are developing the industrial microorganism Corynebacterium glutamicum as a production platform not only for water-soluble metabolites, such as amino acids and nucleic acids, but also for water-insoluble lipids. Our current interests involve microbial production of useful fatty acids and vitamins derived therefrom (e.g., biotin). Biotin available in the world is exclusively manufactured from petroleum, and its microbial production has not been established. We are working on developing world’s first biotechnology with emphasizing originality and unique idea. Food Science and Biotechnology Division Development of production base of fatty acids and sulfur-containing fatty acid derivatives Development of environment-friendly process independent of fossil fuel Development of innovative strain engineering methodology with originality and practicality In our Lab, the latest technologies and Big Data on cells (genome information, in-silico metabolic maps, etc.) are used to create superior production strains. Corynebacterium glutamicum is a microorganism that naturally requires biotin, an important vitamin for our health. By using genes from other bacterial species, we developed the world’s first biotin-nonrequiring strain of C. glutamicum, which produces biotin in the culture medium (leftmost photo). We also found that only one mutation enables the wild-type strain to produce fatty acids (rightmost). Wild type Fatty acid producer Biotin producer 7 Laboratory of Molecular Biology Kikuo SEN Professor , Ph.D. Microbial pesticides, Mushrooms, Production of useful substances, Signal transduction, Genetic engineering We are aiming to create an affluent and sustainable society by utilizing useful microbial resources. As the research subject, both of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms are studied by methods of molecular biology and genetic engineering. Development of microbial pesticide Bacillus thuringiensis A C Fruit bodies of basidiomycetous mushrooms, Schizophyllum commune (left) and Coprinopsis cinerea (right), on agar media Elucidation of the mechanism of fruit body formation of basidiomycetous mushrooms A photomicrograph of Bacillus thuringiensis producing spores and insecticidal crystals crystal spore Food Science and Biotechnology Division
元のページ ../index.html#11