Rewiring the origin of life by resurrecting an ancient pathway for DNA synthesis

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26660064
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Applied microbiology
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Ogawa Jun 京都大学, (連合)農学研究科(研究院), 教授 (70281102)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): HIBI Maokoto 京都大学, 大学院農学研究科, 助教 (30432347)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 進化 / 核酸 / DNA / RNA / デオキシリボヌクレオシド / 核酸医薬

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To obtain new knowledge on molecular origin of DNA, mechanism of DNA biosynthesis was investigated from new aspects, and the obtained results were applied for industrial production of DNA. As an example, by artificial modification of E. coli DNA biosynthetic pathway, deoxyribonucleotide synthesis, which is believed to be synthesized from ribonucleotide, was revealed to be synthesized from simple chemicals those existed in ancient earth environment, i.e., intermediates of glycolysis, acetaldehyde, and nucleo bases. Furthermore, an enzymatic process for the production of modified nucleoside useful for DNA drug was established.

Free Research Field

応用微生物学