Biosynthesis mechanisms of the the plant cell wall polysaccharides

植物细胞壁多糖作为果肉和膳食纤维的来源在我们的日常生活中很有用。植物细胞壁多糖也被认为是生物乙醇等生物燃料的重要来源。然而，植物细胞壁生物合成的机制尚不清楚。本课题通过对细胞壁生物合成过程中涉及的两种酶——UDP-arabinopyranose mutase （UAM）和UDP-galactopyranose mutase （UGM）进行研究，旨在明确植物细胞壁生物合成的机制。日本有许多种类的藻类，它们具有比陆地植物更高的二氧化碳固定能力，成为生物能源的来源。因此，我们将重点放在藻类细胞壁上，并以莱茵衣藻为例。为了明确这些酶在衣藻细胞中的功能，我们分析了衣藻UAM的特性，并检测了衣藻UGM的活性。我们还分析了UAM和UGM基因在细胞周期中的表达。

Plant cell wall polysaccharides are useful in our daily life as a source of pulp and dietary fiber. The plant cell wall polysaccharides are also considered as important source of biofuel such as bioethanol. However, the mechanism of plant cell wall biosyntehsis has been unknown. In this project, we studied UDP-arabinopyranose mutase (UAM) and UDP-galactopyranose mutase (UGM) that are the enzymes involved in the cell wall biosynthesis in order to clear the mechanism of plant cell wall biosynthesis. Japan has a lot of species of algae which possess an ability of CO2 fixation higher than land plants do and become a source of bioenergy. Thus, we focused on algae cell wall, and used Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as a smple in this project. In order to clarify the function of these enzymes in the Chlamydomonas cell, we analyzed the characterization of Chlamydomonas UAM and detected Chlamydomonas UGM activity. We also analyzed the UAM and UGM gene expression on cell cycle.