2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Decoding extracellular RNA released through bacterial membrane vesicles
| Project/Area Number |
16H06189
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
Applied microbiology
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| Research Institution | University of Tsukuba |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Research Collaborator |
Nomura Nobuhiko
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| Project Period (FY) |
2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
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| Keywords | メンブレンベシクル / 細菌間相互作用 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Bacteria release membrane vesicles (MVs) from their cells that range in diameter from 40-400nm. MVs serve various functions, including the transport of virulence factors, DNA transfer, and bacterial communication. They are used as technical platforms for applications in biomedicine and nanotechnology. One of the common cargo of MVs is RNA which functions has not been understood in details. In order to gain insight of the RNA associated with MVs we sequenced the RNA isolated from MVs of several bacteria. By focusing on the accumulated mRNA in MVs, this led us to discover a gene that is involved in MV biogenesis. This gene encoding a cell wall degrading enzyme is well conserved among bacteria. We show showed that this enzyme trigger explosive cell lysis and bubbling cell death through which MVs are generated in Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The results provides new concepts in MV research.
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| Free Research Field |
微生物学
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
細胞外膜小胞は、細菌以外のほとんどの生物が産生することが明らかとなってきており、その機能や応用について注目が集まっている。細菌も50年以上前からメンブレンベシクル(MV)と呼ばれる細胞外膜小胞を形成することが分かっていたが、その形成機構については完全に明らかになっていなかった。我々は、世界で初めて細菌間で共通したMV形成機構を明らかにした。本研究により、MV研究と応用が一気に進むと期待される。
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