Biochemical and molecular biological studies on the norlignan biosynthesis for molecular breeding of Japanese

对于木材的利用，一些特性往往受到木材中所含化合物的影响。以日本雪松为例；杉木，在心材（=树干的深色部分等）中称为去木脂素的化合物被认为可以控制木材的颜色或耐久性。在本研究中，我们表征了糖木素生物合成过程中的一个酶促反应，提出了糖木素生物合成后对杉木颜色表达变化的机制，并阐明了变化产物的化学结构。此外，我们还分析了杉木心材形成过程中与去脂素生物合成相关的生物反应（起始因子等）的基因表达。

For wood utilization, some of the properties are often affected by the chemical compounds contained in the wood. In the case of Japanese cedar ; sugi, the compounds called norlignan in the heartwood(=dark part of trunk, etc) are considered to control wood color or durability. In this research, we were able to characterize one of the enzymatic reaction in norlignan production(=biosynthesis) in sugi tree, to propose the mechanism of norlignan change toward sugi wood color expression after the biosynthesis, and to elucidate the chemical structure of the changed product. Furthermore, we analyzed the gene expression associated with biological reactions(initiation factor, etc) during sugi heartwood formation involving norlignan biosynthesis.