A search of novel surrogates of sterols in anaerobic eukaryotes

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25650132
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Evolutionary biology
• Research Institution: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
• Principal Investigator: TAKISHITA Kiyotaka 独立行政法人海洋研究開発機構, 海洋生物多様性研究分野, 主任研究員 (90392951)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): OHKOUCHI Naohiko 独立行政法人海洋研究開発機構, 生物地球化学研究分野, 分野長 (00281832) ; CHIKARAISHI Yoshito 独立行政法人海洋研究開発機構, 生物地球化学研究分野, 主任研究員 (50455490)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 原生生物 / 嫌気 / 細胞膜 / ステロール

Outline of Final Research Achievements

It is known that sterols are associated with fluidity and permeability of eukaryotic cell membranes, and are key to fundamental eukaryotic-specific cellular processes such as phagocytosis. Several steps of de novo sterol biosynthesis require molecular oxygen. Our studies unveiled that some of eukaryotes inhabiting anoxic environments have neither sterols nor their structurally similar molecules based on analyses of genome, transcriptome, and GC-MS. However, it seems that the anaerobic eukaryotes in question can produce ceramides, in which a hydrophilic portion is very small compared with a hydrophobic portion as in the case of sterols, and the ceramides could be surrogates of sterols in these eukaryotes.

Free Research Field

原生生物学