Development of Artificial Plant Leafs using Polymeric Nanofibers and Formulation of Sugar-Production System

2011 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22655074
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Polymer/Textile materials
• Research Institution: University of Fukui
• Principal Investigator: NAKANE Koji 福井大学, 大学院・工学研究科, 准教授 (50292446)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): OGATA Nobuo 福井大学, 大学院・工学研究科, 教授 (70108249) ; MAEDA Masuo 福井大学, 教育地域科学部, 教授 (10020140)
• Project Period (FY): 2010 – 2011
• Keywords: 繊維材料

Research Abstract

We developed a new method of mass cultivation for plant(Pueraria lobata) cell using LED irradiation. The isolated plant cells were dispersed in ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer(EVOH) solution. The solution was used as a spinning solution for electrospinning, and we obtained the plant cells immobilized on EVOH nanofiber mat. We confirmed that the cell had a bioactivity after the electrospinning.
The cells were dispersed in a culture without sugar and it was cultured for a week under LED irradiation. The culture was tested by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry(LC-MS) and thus glucose and sucrose were detected. This indicates that sugar produced by photosynthesis in the plant cells was secreted to outside the cell walls. On the other hand, we could not detect sugar from the culture containing the cells immobilized on EVOH nanofiber mat. It is likely that(1) the cells immobilized were small in number ;(2) the cells with higher photosynthetic performance must be used instead of Pueraria lobata cells.