2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Studies on the regulations of animal steroid biosynthesis and sex differentiation in plants

Research Project

Project/Area Number	24780109
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Bioproduction chemistry/Bioorganic chemistry
Research Institution	Utsunomiya University
Principal Investigator	NOMURA Takahito 宇都宮大学, 雑草科学研究センター, 准教授 (60373346)
Project Period (FY)	2012-04-01 – 2014-03-31
Keywords	ステロイド / 植物 / 生殖生長
Research Abstract	Animal steroids are detected from plants, but the biosynthesis pathway and physiological function of animal steroids in plants has been unknown. In this study, I analyzed endogenous animal steroids in the model plant Arabidopsis. The results suggested the possibility that the biosynthesis of animal steroids is regulated by abscisic acid, a plant hormone. The endogenous level of progesterone, an animal steroid, was higher in flowers than that in other tissues. Furthermore, I analyzed endogenous animal steroids in the dioecious plant asparagus and found that the endogenous level of progesterone was higher in female plants than that in male plants. These results suggested that animal steroids might regulate the reproductive growth of plants.