Investigation of molecular mechanisms of chloroplast protein import

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26650017
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Structural biochemistry
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Masato Nakai 大阪大学, たんぱく質研究所, 准教授 (90222158)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 葉緑体 / トランスロコン / 蛋白質複合体 / 蛋白質輸送

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Every cell and cell organelles are surrounded by lipid bilayers which consist of hydrophobic core and therefore act as a barrier for both small and macro molecules such as proteins. Specific molecular machineries called translocon are required to achieve this task. We have been trying to elucidating molecular structure and molecular mechanisms of chloroplast translocons by using transgenic plants expressing tagged components of chloroplast translocons. To date, we have succeeded in preparing such transgenic plants and purified translocons. Further improvements will be needed to bulk up the scale of the purification.

Free Research Field

植物分子細胞生物額