Bioactive substances produced by living organisms are the key to solving biological phenomena and are useful as medicines and agricultural chemicals. Microorganisms and plants produce a variety of bioactive substances, but their roles in the environment and their physiological actions are often unknown. In this laboratory, we conduct basic research to discover bioactive substances, elucidate their mechanisms of action, and search for new bioactivities, as well as applied research to develop methods to effectively utilize bioactivities for stable human life and environmental conservation.
Basic Information
Faculty name/Affiliation
Shohei Sakuda / Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering
We discover new bioactive substances with useful effects for agriculture and medicine from the metabolites of microorganisms, plants, and other sources, and conduct both basic and applied research on their mechanisms of action and physiological effects.
Prevention of mycotoxin contamination of food Molds accumulate substances (mycotoxins) that show toxicity to humans and livestock in crops. Mycotoxins in food are not broken down during cooking and can be harmful to humans and livestock. Aflatoxin, in particular, has a strong carcinogenic effect, and 5 billion people are exposed to the risk of aflatoxin. However, there are no practical methods to prevent aflatoxin contamination in crops, and its development is strongly desired. We are focusing on substances that specifically inhibit aflatoxin production. Such substances can help elucidate the mechanism of aflatoxin production in molds, and their practical use as aflatoxin contamination prevention agents can be expected. The figure shows the mechanism by which geosmin promotes the activity of the clpP protease, inhibits the expression of the transcriptional regulatory factor AflR, and suppresses aflatoxin production.
Application of Microbial Signaling Molecules Aurozamine produced by soil actinomycetes is a signaling molecule that promotes chitinase production and growth of actinomycetes. Chitinase is essential for the degradation of chitin in soil, and the chitin degradation products promote plant growth and maintain a favorable state of the microbial community in soil for plant growth. We are conducting research on the application of aurozamine to agriculture and environmental conservation, focusing on elucidating the mechanism of action of aurozamine and its effects on soil microbial communities and plant growth. The figure shows the effect of aurozamine on the growth of actinomycetes, with more mycelia visible on the right side where aurozamine was added compared to the left side without aurozamine. The grains around the mycelia are chitin, and it can be seen that the degradation of chitin is promoted by the addition of aurozamine.
Papers and Conferences Presentation
Paper presentation
Title
Journal title
Laboratory
Contents
Structural and Thermodynamic Signatures of Ligand Binding to the Enigmatic Chitinase D of Serratia proteamaculans
Introducing the FacultyThis section introduces details about the research and the passionate thoughts around the research.
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