Masatoshi Yamaguchi　（Associate Professor, Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (IEST), Saitama University）

Generation of plants containing lower amount of lignocellulose with transcriptional repression factor

　Secondary wall forming at woody cells is called as lignocellulosic biomass and expected as a sustainable resource. Therefore, it is important to generate plants or woods in which the lignocellulosic biomass is improved qualitatively and/or quantitatively for considering the application. Previously, I identified a transcriptional factor that binds to and represses transcriptional activity of master regulators of secondary wall formation. To decrease the secondary wall content is useful traits to improve forage digestibility for livestock, or wood saccharification for pulping. Here, I aim to generate transgenic plants containing lower amount of lingocellulose by utilizing the transcriptional repressor.

Publication

Bo Xu, Misato Ohtani, Masatoshi Yamaguchi, Kiminori Toyooka, Mayumi Wakazaki, Mayuko Sato, Minoru Kubo, Yoshimi Nakano, Ryosuke Sano, Yuji Hiwatashi, Takashi Murata, Tetsuya Kurata, Arata Yoneda, Ko Kato, Mitsuyasu Hasebe, Taku Demura, Contribution on NAC transcription factors to plant adaptation to land, Science, published online March 20, 2014, doi: 10.1126/science.1248417

Soichiro Noda, Masatoshi Yamaguchi, Yuta Tsurumaki, Yoshinori Takahashi, Nobuyuki Nishikubo, Takefumi Hattori, Taku Demura, Shiro Suzuki, Toshiaki Umezawa, ATL54, a ubiquitin ligase gene related to secondary cell wall formation, is transcriptionally regulated by MYB46, Plant Biotechnology, vol. 30, 503-509 (2013)

Masayuki Kakimoto, Toshiki Ishikawa, Atsuko Miyagi, Kazuaki Saito, Motonobu Miyazaki, Takashi Asaeda, Masatoshi Yamaguchi, Hirofumi Uchimiya, Maki Kawai-Yamada, Culture temperature affects gene expression and metabolic pathways in the 2-methylisoborneol-producing cyanobacterium Pseudanabaena galeata, Plant Physiology, vol. 171, 292-300 (2013)