Natural rubber utilizing bacteria make natural rubber: the challenge of recycling organic waste at the molecular level

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K21861
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 64:Environmental conservation measure and related fields
• Research Institution: Nagaoka University of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Kasai Daisuke 長岡技術科学大学, 工学研究科, 准教授 (80452085)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-07-30 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: アルデヒドデヒドロゲナーゼ / 天然ゴム / ポリイソプレン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Here, we aimed to establish a natural rubber reproduction system using the Nocardia sp. E1 strain, and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) involved in the degradation of an intermediate metabolite (oligoisoprenealdehyde: OIA) that was unknown in the natural rubber metabolic pathway. As a result, it was shown that ALDH (AldH), which is constitutively expressed and has a high affinity for NAD +, specifically oxidizes OIA consisting of 3 to 5 isoprenes. The disruption of aldH markedly reduced the growth ability on IR and OIA degradation activity, indicating that this gene is important for OIA degradation of this strain.

Free Research Field

環境微生物学、応用微生物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究で特定したALDHは、特定のOIAを脂肪酸 (多価不飽和脂肪酸)へと変換する。多価不飽和脂肪酸は、界面活性剤や潤滑油、バイオディーゼル燃料などに利用可能であることから、LcpとALDHの2つの酵素を大量生産し、それらの酵素反応を利用した天然ゴム変換系を確立することによって、天然ゴム資源を原料として脂肪酸等の有価物を生産できるシステムの構築につながると期待される。