| Budget Amount *help |
¥4,550,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,050,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Plants are known to produce various secondary metabolites. Of these metabolites, nitrile formation as an end product is uncommon in plants and information about its biological roles and biosynthesis is limited. I found two plant species, Fallopia sachalinensis and Oenothera parviflora, emit nitriles when they are infested by herbivores. Using this induction response, the biosynthetic pathway of plant nitrile was determined. I found that nitriles are synthesized from their corresponding amino acids via aldoximes and that production of the precursor amino acids is also induced by insect-feeding and methyl jasmonate (MeJA). There were some proteins induced by MeJA in plant leaves, but the enzymes involved in nitrile production have not yet been fully defined in this study. Isovaleronitrile found from the infested O. parviflora leaves was identified as an attractant for a natural enemy of herbivores.
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