9 research outputs found
活動報告
国際教育部門
日本語研修コース / 深見兼孝 21
日本語・日本事情 (2018年4月~2019年3月) / 田村泰男 25
留学生関係科目 (2018年4月~2019年3月) / 田村泰男 40
第33期(2017-2018) 日本語・日本文化研修プログラム / 石原淳也 55
第19期平成30年度(2018年度)日韓共同理工系学部留学生事業 入学前予備教育 / 石原淳也 58
広島大学短期交換留学(HUSA)プログラム / 恒松直美・堀田泰司 61
特別研修プログラム / 荒見泰史・小宮山道夫 71
2018年度PEACE学生交流プログラム / 永井敦 74
海外日本語教員ブラッシュアップセミナー / 柳本大地 77
平成30年度 ダルマプルサダ大学(インドネシア)における日本語教員研修の報告 / 山中康子 79
研究・その他の活動 8
Ice-binding proteins from the fungus Antarctomyces psychrotrophicus possibly originate from two different bacteria through horizontal gene transfer
Various microbes, including fungi and bacteria, that live in cold environments produce ice-binding proteins (IBPs) that protect them from freezing. Ascomycota and Basidiomycota are two major phyla of fungi, and Antarctomyces psychrotrophicus is currently designated as the sole ascomycete that produces IBP (AnpIBP). However, its complete amino acid sequence, ice-binding property, and evolutionary history have not yet been clarified. Here, we determined the peptide sequences of three new AnpIBP isoforms by total cDNA analysis and compared them with those of other microbial IBPs. The AnpIBP isoforms and ascomycete-putative IBPs were found to be phylogenetically close to the bacterial ones but far from the basidiomycete ones, which is supported by the higher sequence identities to bacterial IBPs than basidiomycete IBPs, although ascomycetes are phylogenetically distant from bacteria. In addition, two of the isoforms of AnpIBP share low sequence identity and are not close in the phylogenetic tree. It is hence presumable that these two AnpIBP isoforms were independently acquired from different bacteria through horizontal gene transfer (HGT), which implies that ascomycetes and bacteria frequently exchange their IBP genes. The non-colligative freezing-point depression ability of AnpIBP was not very high, whereas it exhibited significant abilities of ice recrystallization inhibition, ice shaping, and cryo-protection against freeze-thaw cycles even at submicromolar concentrations. These results suggest that HGT is crucial for the cold-adaptive evolution of ascomycetes, and their IBPs offer freeze resistance to organisms to enable them to inhabit the icy environments of Antarctica. Databases Nucleotide sequence data are available in the DDBJ database under the accession numbers , , for AnpIBP1a, AnpIBP1b, AnpIBP2, respectively
Two-dimensional array of particles originating from dipole-dipole interaction as evidenced by potential curve measurements at vertical oil/water interfaces
We propose a new method to evaluate the interaction potential energy between the particles adsorbed at an oil/water interface as a function of interparticle distance. The method is based on the measurement of the interparticle distance at a vertical oil/water interface, at which the gravitational force is naturally applied to compress the particle monolayer in the in-plane direction. We verified the method by examining whether we obtained the same potential curve upon varying the gravitational acceleration by tilting the interface. The present method is applicable in the force range from ∼0.1 to ∼100 pN, determined by the effective weight of the particles at the interface. The method gives a rather simple procedure to estimate a long range interaction among the particles adsorbed at oil/water interfaces. We applied this method to polystyrene particles at the decane/aqueous surfactant solution interface, and obtained the interparticle potential curves. All the potential curves obtained by the present method indicated that the interparticle repulsion is due to the electrical dipole-dipole interaction based on the negative charge of the particles. The mechanism of the dipole-dipole interaction is further discussed on the basis of the effects of surfactants
Ice-binding proteins from the fungus Antarctomyces psychrotrophicus possibly originate from two different bacteria through horizontal gene transfer
Polypentagonal ice-like water networks emerge solely in an activity-improved variant of ice-binding protein
Polypentagonal water networks were recently observed in a protein capable of binding to ice crystals, or ice-binding protein (IBP). To examine such water networks and clarify their role in ice-binding, we determined X-ray crystal structures of a 65-residue defective isoform of a Zoarcidae-derived IBP (wild type, WT) and its five single mutants (A20L, A20G, A20T, A20V, and A20I). Polypentagonal water networks composed of similar to 50 semiclathrate waters were observed solely on the strongest A20I mutant, which appeared to include a tetrahedral water cluster exhibiting a perfect position match to the (1010) first prism plane of a single ice crystal. Inclusion of another symmetrical water cluster in the poly-pentagonal network showed a perfect complementarity to the waters constructing the (2021) pyramidal ice plane. The order of ice-binding strength was A20L < A20G < WT < A20T < A20V < A20I, where the top three mutants capable of binding to the first prism and the pyramidal ice planes commonly contained a bifurcated gamma-CH3 group. These results suggest that a fine-tuning of the surface of Zoarcidae-derived IBP assisted by a side-chain group regulates the holding property of its polypentagonal water network, the function of which is to freeze the host protein to specific ice planes
Polypentagonal ice-like water networks emerge solely in an activity-improved variant of ice-binding protein
Recently, polypentagonal water networks were observed in a protein capable of binding to ice crystals, or ice-binding protein (IBP). To examine such water networks and clarify their role in ice-binding, we determined X-ray crystal structures of a 65-residue defective isoform of an IBP (wild type, WT) and its 5 single mutants (A20L, A20G, A20T, A20V, and A20I). Polypentagonal water networks composed of approximately 50 semi-clathrate waters were solely observed on the strongest A20I mutant, which appeared to include a tetrahedral water cluster exhibiting perfect position match to the (10-10) 1st prism plane of a single ice crystal. Inclusion of another symmetrical water cluster in the polypentagonal network showed a perfect complementarity to the waters constructing the (20-21) pyramidal ice plane. The order of ice-binding strength was A20L < A20G < WT< A20T < A20V < A20I, where the top 3 mutants capable of binding to the 1st 12 prism and the pyramidal ice planes commonly contained a bifurcated γ-CH313 -group. These results suggest that a fine-tuning of the protein surface assisted by a side-chain group regulates the holding property of the polypentagonal water network, whose function is to freeze the host protein to specific ice planes