Utilization strategy of trace element selenium in marine microalgae

2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24770117
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Functional biochemistry
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: ARAIE Hiroya 筑波大学, 生命環境系, 特任助教 (30596169)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2014-03-31
• Keywords: セレン / トランスポーター / セレン含有化合物 / Emiliania huxleyi / リポソーム / 微量元素

Research Abstract

There is only trace amounts of essential element selenium (Se) in environment. Therefore, microalgae thought to possess specific Se transporter for efficient utilization of Se. I tried to identify this Se transporter. To date, there are no reports of transporters specific for selenite. This time, I aimed at building activity measurement system for the identification. Considering the fact that the nucleotide sequence of the algae is GC rich and the transporter is a membrane protein, I tried expression analysis by using a cell-free system. As a result, it was possible to synthesize a membrane protein by using liposomes as basis. In addition, I have found that there may be a similarity between Se compounds in various microalgae. Therefore, it is expected to identify Se transporter that uses algae that can be genetically engineered for knockdown assay.