Transport of secondary metabolites via membrane vesicles in sponges

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22K14811
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 38020:Applied microbiology-related
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Akihiro Ninomiya 東京大学, 大学院農学生命科学研究科(農学部), 助教 (50823522)
• Project Period (FY): 2022-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: カイメン / メンブレンベシクル / 二次代謝産物 / 共生細菌

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, membrane vesicles were isolated from the sponge Theonella swinhoei by centrifugation and density gradient ultracentrifugation, and observed by transmission electron microscopy. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses revealed that the membrane vesicles contain several secondary metabolites produced by Candidatus Entotheonella sp. Furthermore, RNA-sequencing analyses suggested that transcriptional products of biosynthetic genes for the secondary metabolites are contained in the membrane vesicles.

Free Research Field

天然物化学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

海綿動物において，共生細菌がどのような機構を通して化合物を輸送するかについては理解が進んでいない．本研究は，カイメン中のメンブレンベシクルに共生細菌が産生する二次代謝産物が含まれることを示した．海綿動物中の物質輸送に関して新しい知見を与えると同時に，複雑な微生物叢からなる環境における二次代謝産物の輸送について理解を深めるものである．