| Project/Area Number |
03660076
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
応用生物化学・栄養化学
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| Research Institution | TOKAI UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF HIGH-TECHNOLOGY FOR HUMAN WELFARE |
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Principal Investigator |
MATSUHASHI michio TOKAI UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT: SCHOOL OF HIGH-TECHNOLOGY FOR HUMAN WELFARE TITLE OF POSITION: PROFESSOR, 開発工学部生物工学科, 教授 (40013297)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1991 – 1992
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 1992)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000)
Fiscal Year 1992: ¥1,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000)
Fiscal Year 1991: ¥1,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000)
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| Keywords | ESCHERICHIA COLI / STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS / MRSA / CELL DIVISION / PENICILLIN-BINDING PROTEIN / CYTOSKELETAL PROTEIN / Mre / MecA / 隔壁ペプチドグリカン / MRS |
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| Research Abstract |
The head investigator with his collaborators has found genes mreB, mreC and mreD at 71 min on the Escherichia coli chromosome map, that regulate the cell division and determine the shape of the cell of bacteria. In the present project the gene cafA was identified. It is located downstream to the mrdD gene and codes for a cytoskeleton-like protein which formed huge bundles of "cytoplasmic axial filaments" in the cell over-producing this protein. Under microscopic and electron-microscopic observations the filament-bundles ran through the chains of cells and mini-cells. This protein probably functions in the cell division similar to microtubules or microfilaments in eucaryotic cells. There was about 30 % match in amino acids between the CafA protein and RNase E protein of E. coli, which showed cross-reaction with antibodies raised against eucaryotic myosins.
Furthermore, genes located in the mra region at 2 min on the E. coli chromosome map forming cluster of genes involved in the cell growth and division, have been mostly determined.
In methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) the mecA gene was cloned and shown to encode a penicillin-binding protein with very low affinities to methicillin and other beta-lactam antibiotics. The base sequence of the mecA gene suggested that this gene, which is responsible for the methicillin-resistance of MRSA, has evolved by fusion of two genes, penicillinase gene and a gene of a penicillin-binding protein. This hypothesis was confirmed by determining and comparing the base sequence of the mecA gene of several MRSA strains. The expression of the mecA gene is inducible. However, it was also found that the direct upstream and downstream sequences of mecA influenced the expression of the mecA gene.
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