Understanding of wood decay phenomena and construction of biomass conversion system using genome editing technology of mushroom

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19H03013
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 40020:Wood science-related
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Igarashi Kiyohiko 東京大学, 大学院農学生命科学研究科(農学部), 教授 (80345181)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 飛松 裕基 京都大学, 生存圏研究所, 准教授 (20734221) ; 高畠 幸司 琉球大学, 農学部, 教授 (50446621)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 木材腐朽菌 / きのこ / ゲノム編集 / 薬剤耐性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Most mushrooms are wood-rotting fungi that grow on wood as a nutrient source. Although the fruiting bodies produced by mushrooms have been used as food and medicine since ancient times, the mechanisms of wood decomposition and fruiting body formation remain largely unknown. The purpose of this study is to understand the wood rot phenomenon using genome editing technology and to apply it to the construction of a new biomass conversion system. In this study, we succeeded in obtaining comprehensive data on antibiotic resistance of wood-rotting fungi, for which only scattered information had been available so far. We have also succeeded in mutating enzymes related to biomass degradation in the basidiomycete Coprinopsis cinerea, suggesting that we were able to acquire experimental techniques that lead to a better understanding of wood decay phenomena.

Free Research Field

バイオマス生物工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、木材の物質変換を司っている木材腐朽菌（きのこ）にゲノム編集技術を応用し、木質バイオマス新しいバイオマス変換系の構築を試みた。木質バイオマスを前処理無しで糖化できる技術開発や、セルロースナノファイバーなどの高付加価値な素材を木材から低エネルギーで生産する技術開発を行い、それをきのこ生産現場で展開することによって林業や林産業への雇用創出や気候変動への貢献につながることが期待される。