Planned Research
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
Biominerals show elaborate architecture and specific property which depends on their composition, size, shape, and crystal structure. Molecular studies on biomineralization have shown that the process involves a number of proteins. For structure control of novel fusion materials, we analyze the function of four Mms proteins that are involved in the formation of magnetite crystals in magnetotactic bacteria. All Mms proteins were shown to play key roles in crystal growth and in defining the surface structures of magnetite crystal. By using the protein, morphology of magnetite crystals was successfully controlled according to protein expression levels in bacterial cell.
生物工学
