Course title
植物工学特論   [Plant Biotechnology]
Course category courses for doctoral programs  Requirement   Credit 2 
Department   Year   Semester 1st 
Course type 1st  Course code 1080104
Instructor(s)
小関 良宏, 山田 晃世   [OZEKI Yoshihiro, YAMADA Akiyo]
Facility affiliation Faculty of Engineering Office afjgxte/L1151  Email address

Course description
In the field of metabolic engineering, secondary metabolic products of plants have long been utilized as medical herbs, whose production today cannot catch up with the rising demand as oriental medicine is attracting growing interest. Whereas it is desired for production utilizing genetic engineering to ensure steady supply of herbs, their metabolic system is extremely diverse, differing from one plant species to another, and many aspects are still unknown. On the other hand, the progress of comprehensive analytical technology has placed us in an age in which the expression of genes relevant to the metabolic system, revelation of their enzymatic proteins and the quantities of metabolic products can be analyzed in the same process. In view of this circumstance, the course is intended to help students understand simultaneous analysis of metabolic products and the secondary metabolic system of plants. For this purpose, the scope of lectures will range from understanding of research methods to revelation of metabolic systems of plants (including methods using radioactive isotopes), outlining of secondary metabolic products of various plants and their synthetic systems, studying on production of useful substances from plants, and their utilization in engineering.
Expected Learning
Course schedule
1st: Characteristics of plant metabolic system. Overview of metabolic system as independent nutritious organisms. Understanding of dynamically balanced state in metabolic system. Practical aspects of metabolomic analysis cutting its cross section (comprehensive simultaneous analyis using GC-MS, LC-MS and FT-MS).
2nd: Inference of metabolic system. Practical aspects of metabolic system inference, taking up sugar metabolism as example (method of singling out, when there are multiple enzymes having a similar activity, what is a member of the enzyme group taking part in which metabolic system, measurement of metabolic flow and energy flow by measuring C6/C1 ratio, and measurement of intracellular substance and energy cycles). Experiments using a tracer (radioactive isotope). Synthesis of the tracer (radioactive isotope) and its specific activity. Inference of metabolic system using cold trap method.
3rd: Nitrogen metabolism in plants. Photosynthesis is not the only role of chloroplast. It also fixes nitrogen by consuming a considerable part of the optical energy acquired. Realities of nitrogen fixation by non-legume plants (nitrate reduction and nitrite reduction). Reduction of sulfur with acquired optical energy. Synthesis of nitrogenous compounds other than amino acid (synthesis of choline and betaine, synthesis of amine and polyamine, synthesis of glutathione, synthesis of nucleotide. Physiologically active polypeptide, synthesis of ureide).
4th: Amino acid metabolism. Understanding of the importance of chloroplast to amino acid metabolism in plants. Aspartic acid group synthetic system. Glutamic acid group synthetic system. Branched chain amino acid group synthetic system. Serine group synthetic system. Aromatic amino acid group synthetic system. Histidine group synthetic system.
5th: Lipid metabolism in plants. Glycerolipids (neutral lipid and polar lipid). Synthesis and decomposition of fatty acids. Presence and characteristics of prokaryotic pathway and eukaryotic pathway. Alteration of amino acid metabolism and lipid metabolism in plants by gene rearrangement.
6th: Secondary metabolic products in plants and their synthetic systems ? Alkaloid, pyrrolizidine alkaloid, piperidine alkaloid, quinolizidine alkaloid, tyrosine alkaloid, phenylalanine alkaloid, indole alkaloid. Basic synthetic system and typical compounds of each.
7th: Secondary metabolic products in plants and their synthetic systems ? Non-alkaloid nitrogen-containing compounds. Cyanogenic (including cyanogenetic) glycosides, mustard oil glycoside (glucosinolate). Non-protein amino acids, and others. Understanding of structures and synthetic systems of pungent principles and spice principles, and their role as defensive substances.
8th: Secondary metabolic products in plants and their synthetic systems ? Terpenoids. Monoterpene, sesquiterpene, diterpene, triterpene, tetraterpene, polyterpene. Synthesis of saponin, sterol, carotenoid, chlorophyll, abscisic acid and gibberellin. Presence of cytoplasmic pathways and plastidic pathways in their synthetic systems (synthesis from mevalonic pathways and non-mevalonic pathways on an isoprene-by-isoprene basis), and role sharing between them.
9th: Secondary metabolic products in plants and their synthetic systems ? Phenylpropanoids. Lignin, coumarin, furanocoumarin. Understanding of the role to bear gravity and drying in plants on land. Understanding of the role in defense against ultraviolet rays and in resistivity to pathogenic germs.
10th: Secondary metabolic products in plants and their synthetic systems ? Flavonoids. Structures, synthetic systems, enzymatic genes and gene expression control mechanisms of chalcone, flavanone, flavane, flavonol, isoflavone and catechin. Their roles as defensive compounds and gene expression.
11th: Secondary metabolic products in plants and their synthetic systems ? Anthocyanins. Fundamental tone colors of pelargonidin, cyanidin, delphinidin, peonidin, petunidin and malvidin frameworks. Mechanisms of molecular stabilization and tone color variations and diversification by modifications, such as glycosylation and acylation. Metal complex theory. Mechanisms of stabilization and bluing of color by self-stacking and stacking with other flavonoid molecules.
12th: Secondary metabolic products in plants and their synthetic systems ? Betanidines.
Distribution limited to centriole plants and exclusivity against anthocyanin synthetic system. Structures of betacyanine and betaxanthin and their presumable synthetic systems. Glycosylating reaction in reaction intermediates, and enzymes and their genes governing the reaction.
13th: Defense systems in plants. Identification and understanding of differences in resistivity against pathogenic germs and viruses and resistivity against predators. Understanding of initial reaction not accompanied by gene expression and later reaction accompanied by gene expression. Roles of oxidative burst and ion channel. Understanding of systemic acquired resistance and roles of jasmonic acid and methyl jasmonic acid.
14th: Creation of gene-rearranged plants strengthened in defensive system by utilizing gene rearrangement technology. Strengthening of later reaction of defensive system accompanied by gene expression. Strengthening of phytoalexin synthetic system. Strengthening of resistivity by utilizing pathogenesis-related protein. Dilemma between resistivity strengthening and resultant qualitative deterioration of farm products as foods. Dilemma between improvement of quality as foods and weakining of resistivity.
15th: Sum-up and test.
Prerequisites
Completion of undergraduate courses “Life Chemistry I, II and III” in the Biotechnology and Life Science Department is required.
Required Text(s) and Materials
The lectures will be given, based on Power Point reference materials compiled from the reference books listed below.
References
L. Taize and E. Zeiger, eds., Plant Physiology (Third edition), Japanese version published by Baifukan; Plant Pigment Research Association, ed., Shokubutsu Shikiso Kenkyuho (Plant Pigment Research Methods), Osaka Koritsu Daigaku Kyodo Shuppankai.
Assessment/Grading
Each student will be required to present a summary of latest papers, etc. on one of the metabolic systems discussed in the lectures.
Message from instructor(s)
Plants have acquired in their process of evolution systems for resisting stresses from the environment and against predators and pathogenic germs. Above all, secondary metabolic systems have played an important role. While some such systems retain the resistivity working beneficially to plants’ survival even now, others which are no longer required because predators have already disappeared or some other reason still remain as “vestigial metabolic systems”, and they are utilized for pharmaceutical or other purposes. I would like for my students to understand the variety of such systems and their engineering usefulness.
Course keywords
Secondary metabolic system, production of useful substances from plants, plant pigment, amino acid synthesis
Office hours
From 1 to 2 p.m. every Tuesday. Place: Room 408, 4th floor, Bldg. No. 12 Faculty of Engineering
Remarks 1
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Lecture Language
Japanese
Language Subject
Last update
3/6/2019 4:04:50 PM