Development and precise functional analysis of innovative biosynthetic machinery to create complex skeletons

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: Creation of Complex Functional Molecules by Rational Redesign of Biosynthetic Machineries
• Project/Area Number: 16H06453
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Science and Engineering
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Kuzuyama Tomohisa 東京大学, 大学院農学生命科学研究科(農学部), 教授 (30280952)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 白石 太郎 東京大学, 生物生産工学研究センター, 助教 (40734603)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-06-30 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 生物活性物質 / 天然化合物 / 遺伝子 / 酵素 / 生合成 / 反応機構

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research project, through the discovery of innovative biosynthetic enzymes that create complex chemical structures of natural products and the precise analysis of their functions, we have been able to reveal a number of new mechanisms by which nature creates structural diversity in natural products. Some of these results should be included in textbooks of biochemistry and natural product chemistry in the future. All of these results were achieved by combining the methods of molecular biology, biochemistry, structural biology, organic chemistry, and computational science, and we are confident that we have contributed to the establishment of new theories in natural product chemistry.

Free Research Field

天然物化学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

我々は、多くの生物のゲノム情報が容易に入手可能となった現在、様々な有用な天然化合物の生合成遺伝子を取得し、その生合成系を異種微生物の中に再構築することで狙った付加価値の高い化合物を生体触媒（酵素）の力を借りて生産する方法を、本研究課題を通して確立した。本研究成果は、爆発的に蓄積し続ける未利用資源とも言うべきゲノム情報から未知の有益な配列情報を効率的に抽出し、生物合成と合成化学の手法で生産することで未踏の有用物質を人類の生活向上への活用につなげるための必須の方法となるであろう。