Creation of bacterial "lipid body" for biofuel production

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25650092
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Plant molecular biology/Plant physiology
• Research Institution: Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: MASUDA Shinji 東京工業大学, バイオ研究基盤支援総合センター, 准教授 (30373369)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): HARADA Jiro 久留米大学, 医学部, 講師 (10373094)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 光合成細菌 / バイオエネルギー / トリアシルグリセロール / クロロソーム / 緑色細菌

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we tried to create artificial bacterial “lipid body” for biofuel and useful materials production. Specifically, we achieved genetic modification of the light-harvesting protein-pigment complex called chlorosome of green-sulfur bacteria. Chlorosomes are composed of single monolayer membrane system, and inside the membrane, a large amount of chlorophylls are accumulated. In this study, we aimed to accumulate biofuels such as triacylglycerol inside the chlorosomes. We cloned the genes for triacylglycerol synthases of higher plants. Then, these genes are cloned into the highly expression vector for green-sulfur bacteria. After several trials, we succeeded to introduce these expression vectors into the model green-sulfur bacterium Chlorobaculum tepidum. These recombinant photosynthetic bacteria grew slower than wild type, suggesting that some triacylglycerol may be accumulated in the bacterium.

Free Research Field

光生物学