Improvement of the sewage purifying method using ciliates having an improved phagocytosis by genetic modification.

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K12238
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Modeling and technologies for environmental conservation and remediation
• Research Institution: Yamaguchi University
• Principal Investigator: HORI MANABU 山口大学, 創成科学研究科, 准教授 (00253138)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): TOMINAGA Takashi 徳島文理大学, 神経科学研究所, 准教授 (20344046) ; ISHIDA Masaki 奈良教育大学, 教育学部, 教授 (80291053) ; FUJIWARA Isamu 山口大学, 大学研究推進機構, 准教授 (40190087)
• Research Collaborator: COHEN Jean CNRS, I2BC, Director ; KOLL France CNRS, I2BC, Researcher
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 繊毛虫 / 排水 / テトラヒメナ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To improve waste water cleaning method, we attempted to generate the genetically modified ciliates that eat a large quantity of bacteria and debris in waste water.
In previous experiment, we succeeded in generating mutant Paramecium that form a lot of food vacuoles by rsp4 or rsp16 gene silencing. Therefore, we tried to generate rsp4 or rsp16 mutant using other ciliates which inhabit in the sewage treatment plant. As a result, we could generate　mutant Tetrahymena which form a lot of food vacuoles by rsp16 and HSP40 family gene disruption. In the mutant Tetrahymena, termed the fast strain, food vacuole formation is 1.5 times more and swimming speed is 1.3 times faster, compared with wildtype cells. When wild type cells and fast strain cultured in artificial waste water, fast strain could reduce the turbidity (OD) earlier than wildtype cell.

Free Research Field

分子遺伝学