Trials to strengthen bacterial cell membrane by the production of archaeal membrane lipids

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K14882
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Applied microbiology
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: Hemmi Hisashi 名古屋大学, 生命農学研究科, 准教授 (60302189)
• Research Collaborator: MOTOYAMA Kento 名古屋大学, 大学院生命農学研究科, 大学院生 ; KOKUBO Takuya 名古屋大学, 大学院生命農学研究科, 大学院生 ; YOSHIDA Ryo 名古屋大学, 大学院生命農学研究科, 大学院生
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: アーキア / 膜脂質 / イソプレノイド / 微生物生産 / メバロン酸経路

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The structures of membrane lipids from archaea are different from those from other organisms, bacteria and eukaryotes. The difference causes the low permeability of membrane composed of archaeal membrane lipids to small molecules such as ions, which is considered to enable archaea to grow under extreme conditions. Thus, we have forced the bacterium Escherichia coli to produce archaeal membrane lipids in order to strengthen its cell membrane. In this study, we introduced a biosynthetic pathway of the precursors of archaeal membrane lipids in E. coli to increase their production levels. And, we elucidated the biosynthetic pathway of membrane lipids specific to a hyperthermophilic archaeon, which are expected to have greater effects on the strengthening of membrane, and constructed the production system of the lipids in E. coli.

Free Research Field

酵素化学