Activation of microbial dormant secondary metabolism by plant hormones

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K19081
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 38:Agricultural chemistry and related fields
• Research Institution: Aoyama Gakuin University (2022-2023); Osaka University (2021)
• Principal Investigator: Kitani Shigeru 青山学院大学, 理工学部, 教授 (10379117)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-07-09 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 放線菌 / 植物ホルモン / インドール-3-酢酸 / 化学コミュニケーション

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Chemical communication between microorganisms and plants has been predicted to control the phenotype f each of them. This study aimed to find microorganisms, whose production of secondary metabolites is regulated by phytohormones and to discover a new type of the chemical communication. Here, we showed that indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), a phytohormone, regulates morphological differentiation and secondary metabolite production in some strains of streptomycetes, which are representative microorganisms that produce useful bioactive compounds. These results suggested that IAA is an important factor regulating morphological differentiation and/or cryptic secondary metabolism in streptomycetes, and that there is an IAA-mediated chemical communication between streptomycetes and plants.

Free Research Field

応用微生物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究により、インドール-3-酢酸（IAA）が放線菌に休眠する二次代謝を打破（覚醒）する化学ツールとして有効である可能性を示した。このIAAを活用すれば、構造多様性に富んだ新規天然物を発掘できる確率が向上すると期待される。また、IAAにより調節される形態分化経路が示されたことから、放線菌の新たな形態分化調節系に加え、新たな微生物-植物間化学コミュニケーションの存在が示唆された。