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Research Topics Resent studies Publications
Structural biology of plant macromolecules II
How does cellulose chain grow?
How does cellulose chain grows in a terminal complex, where polymerization and crystallization take place simultaneously. Which chain ends, reducing or non-reducing ones, does UDP-G link to ? Does hydrolytic enzyme have selectivity toward the chain polarity or not? To answer such problems, we established a combined chain-end visualization technique together with electron diffraction. The directionality on cellulose and chitin synthesis as well as biodegradation of some enzymes have been reported.

Imai T, Watanabe T, Yui T, Sugiyama J: The directionality of chitin biosynthesis - A revisit. Biochem J, 374, 755-760, 2003
Sugiyama J, Boisset C, Hashimoto M, Watanabe T: Molecular directionality of ƒÀ-chitin biosynthesis. J Mol Biol, 286, 247-255, 1999
Koyama M, Helbert W, Imai T, Sugiyama J, Henrissat B: Parallel-up structure evidences the molecular directionality during biosynthesis of bacterial cellulose. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 94, 9091-9095, 1997