Establishment of a novel species specific live cell staining approach for the preservation and isolation of metabolically active microbes from marine sponges

• Project/Area Number: 18H02278
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 40040:Aquatic life science-related
• Research Institution: Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
• Principal Investigator: MORI TETSUSHI 東京農工大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (00590100)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2020)
• Budget Amount: ¥17,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥13,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,960,000); Fiscal Year 2020: ¥4,420,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,020,000); Fiscal Year 2019: ¥8,190,000 (Direct Cost: ¥6,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,890,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥4,550,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,050,000)
• Keywords: 難培養性微生物 / 微生物の単離 / 微生物種特異的単離手 / 難培養微生物保 / 海洋海綿共生細菌 / 微生物種特異的単離手法 / 難培養微生物保存

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Marine sponges hosts numerous natural compound producing microbes that are crucial to industry and pharmaceutics. Although highly diverse, majority of these microbes are uncultivable, their genetic features unknown and are inaccessible using conventional methods. To overcome this challenge, in this research, we established a live cell species specific staining technique, termed as LIVE-FISH targeted to identify and promote the isolation of such microbes. Furthermore, we also established a pipeline to elucidate the genetic traits of these microbes. We believe that LIVE-FISH will revolutionize the exploitation of natural compound producing microbes in the near future.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

産業および医療分野においては、プロセスの高速化・最適化あるいは新薬開発には微生物は不可欠である。また次世代シーケンサーの解析により海綿動物内を初め、環境にはまだ開拓されていない有用性微生物が多く生息している。しかし、環境微生物の多くは未知あるいは難培養性であることから、従来の技術ではこれらの有用性細菌はアクセスできない。本研究で開発したLIVE-FISH法は生細胞かつ種特異的にターゲットの細菌を識別できることから、今まで課題とされていた環境微生物の有効利用を解決できると期待される。