Japan (STA) Program: Probing Selective Lignin Degradation in Wood Using Two-Dimensional Spectrophotometry and Immunological Probes

该奖项将为缅因州大学的Barry Goodell博士与日本筑波林业和林产品研究所的Koichi Yamamoto博士和Hitoshi Karasawa博士进行长期研究提供补充支持。他们将研究酶降解木材的生物化学和分子生物学。真菌穿透和降解木材细胞壁的机制仍不完全清楚。古德尔博士的实验室一直在使用免疫探针和透射电子显微镜研究降解酶和代谢物的作用。Yamamoto博士和Karasawa博士一直在使用UV显微分光光度和基于扫描电子显微镜的X射线分析技术来定位和定量木材细胞中的木质素。希望这项合作将使这些研究人员能够在酶/代谢产物功能和选择性脱木素之间建立联系。

This award will provide supplementary support for a long-term research stay by Dr. Barry Goodell of the University of Maine to conduct collaborative research with Drs. Koichi Yamamoto and Hitoshi Karasawa of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute in Tsukuba, Japan. They will study the biochemistry and molecular biology of enzymatic wood degradation. The mechanisms by which fungi penetrate and degrade wood cell walls are still incompletely understood. Dr. Goodell's laboratory has been investigating the action of degradative enzymes and metabolites using immunological probes and transmission electron microscopy. Dr. Yamamoto and Dr. Karasawa have been using the techniques of UV microspectrophotometry and scanning electron microscope-based X-ray analysis to localize and quantify lignin in the wood cell. It is hoped that collaboration will enable these researchers to establish links between enzyme/metabolite function and selective delignification.