Kazuki Moriguchi

Last Updated :2024/05/07

Affiliations, Positions
Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life, Associate Professor or Lecturer
E-mail
kmoriguchiroshima-u.ac.jp
Self-introduction
I am tackling a research of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) mechanism by Type-4 Secretion System (T4SS). Through this research, our research group is trying to apply our achievements, as a gene introduction tool by enhancing the T4SS mediated HGT, and as a prevention method of emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance pathogens.

Basic Information

Academic Degrees

  • Ph.D., Nagoya University
  • Master of Science, Nagoya University

Educational Activity

  • [Bachelor Degree Program] School of Science : Biological Sciences : Biology
  • [Master's Program] Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life : Division of Integrated Sciences for Life : Program of Basic Biology
  • [Doctoral Program] Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life : Division of Integrated Sciences for Life : Program of Basic Biology

Research Fields

  • Biological Sciences;Genome science;Genome biology
  • Agricultural sciences;Plant production and environmental agriculture;Science in genetics and breeding

Educational Activity

Course in Charge

  1. 2024, Liberal Arts Education Program1, 3Term, Introduction to Biology
  2. 2024, Liberal Arts Education Program1, 2Term, Introductory Seminar for First-Year Students
  3. 2024, Undergraduate Education, Second Semester, English Seminar on Biological Science
  4. 2024, Undergraduate Education, 2Term, Advanced Biology
  5. 2024, Undergraduate Education, 1Term, Basic Biological Science A
  6. 2024, Undergraduate Education, 2Term, Microbiology
  7. 2024, Undergraduate Education, Second Semester, Seminar for Plant and Microbial Molecular Genomics
  8. 2024, Undergraduate Education, First Semester, Special Study for Graduation
  9. 2024, Undergraduate Education, Second Semester, Special Study for Graduation
  10. 2024, Undergraduate Education, First Semester, Practice for Fundamental Biology I
  11. 2024, Undergraduate Education, First Semester, Practice for Fundamental Biology III
  12. 2024, Undergraduate Education, Second Semester, Practice for Fundamental Biology IV
  13. 2024, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , Academic Year, Research for Academic Degree Dissertation in Basic Biology
  14. 2024, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , 1Term, Cellular life science
  15. 2024, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , First Semester, Exercises in Basic Biology A
  16. 2024, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , Second Semester, Exercises in Basic Biology B

Research Activities

Academic Papers

  1. Novel Toxin-Antitoxin System Composed of Serine Protease and AAA-ATPase Homologues Determines the High Level of Stability and Incompatibility of the Tumor-Inducing Plasmid pTiC58, JOURNAL OF BACTERIOLOGY, 191(14), 4656-4666, 20090715
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  2. Proper regulation of Cdc42 activity is required for tight actin concentration at the equator during cytokinesis in adherent mammalian Cells, EXPERIMENTAL CELL RESEARCH, 317(16), 2384-2389, 20111001
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  3. The first complete sequencing analysies of plant tumor-inducing plasmid Ti and root-inducing plasmid Ri indicate their chimeric structures and unique evolutional relationships, Recent Res. Devel. Plant Physiol., 1, 53-61, 20030401
  4. Genome structure and evolution of giant plant pathogenic plasmids in Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Agrobacterium rhizogenes, Endocytobiosis Cell Res., 15, 371-378, 20040401
  5. ★, Functional isolation of novel nuclear proteins showing a variety of subnuclear localizations, The Plant Cell, 17, 389-403, 20050201
  6. Structure and subcellular localization of a small RNA-binding protein from tobacco, The Plant Journal, 12(1), 215-221, 19970701
  7. Larger numbers of silenced genes in cancer cell lines with increased de novo methylation of scattered CpG sites, Cancer Letters, 249(2), 178-187, 20070501
  8. Analysis of unique variable region of a plant root inducing plasmid, pRi1724, by the construction of its physical map and library, DNA RESEARCH, 7(3), 157-163, 20000630
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  9. ★, The complete nucleotide sequence of a plant root-inducing (Ri) plasmid indicates its chimeric structure and evolutionary relationship between tumor-inducing (Ti) and symbiotic (Sym) plasmids in Rhizobiaceae, JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, 307(3), 771-784, 20010330
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  10. MNU-induced mutant pools and high performance TILLING enable finding of any gene mutation in rice, MOLECULAR GENETICS AND GENOMICS, 279(3), 213-223, 200803
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  11. Yeast transformation mediated by Agrobacterium strains harboring an Ri plasmid: comparative study between GALLS of an Ri plasmid and virE of a Ti plasmid., Genes to cells : devoted to molecular & cellular mechanisms, 17(7), 597-610, 2012
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  12. ★, Trans-Kingdom Horizontal DNA Transfer from Bacteria to Yeast Is Highly Plastic Due to Natural Polymorphisms in Auxiliary Nonessential Recipient Genes, PLOS ONE, 8(9), 20130913
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  13. Screening for yeast mutants defective in recipient ability for transkingdom conjugation with Escherichia coli revealed importance of vacuolar ATPase activity in the horizontal DNA transfer phenomenon., Microbiological research, 167(5), 311-316, 20120520
  14. Ability of Agrobacterium tumefaciens and A. rhizogenes strains, inability of A. vitis and A. rubi strains to adapt to salt-insufficient environment, and taxonomic significance of a simple salt requirement test in the pathogenic Agrobacterium species, J. Gen. Appl. Microbiol., 55(1), 35-41, 2009
  15. Identification of pTi-SAKURA DNA region conferring enhancement of plasmid incompatibility and stability., Genes & genetic systems, 82(3), 197-206, 20070730
  16. Construction of disarmed Ti plasmids transferable between Escherichia coli and Agrobacterium species., Applied and environmental microbiology, 75(7), 1845-1851, 20090130
  17. ★, Transkingdom genetic transfer from Escherichia coli to Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a simple gene introduction tool., Applied and environmental microbiology, 79(14), 4393-4400, 20130510
  18. Horizontal DNA transfer from bacteria to eukaryotes and a lesson from experimental transfers, RESEARCH IN MICROBIOLOGY, 166(10), 753-763, 201512
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  19. A Fast and Practical Yeast Transformation Method Mediated by Escherichia coli Based on a Trans-Kingdom Conjugal Transfer System: Just Mix Two Cultures and Wait One Hour, PLOS ONE, 11(2), 20160205
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  20. DNA repair genes RAD52 and SRS2, a cell wall synthesis regulator gene SMI1, and the membrane sterol synthesis scaffold gene ERG28 are important in efficient Agrobacterium-mediated yeast transformation with chromosomal T-DNA, BMC MICROBIOLOGY, 16, 20160402
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  21. An extra repABC locus in the incRh2 Ti plasmid pTiBo542 exerts incompatibility toward an incRh1 plasmid, PLASMID, 90, 20-29, 201703
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  22. Effective removal of a range of Ti/Ri plasmids using a pBBR1-type vector having a repABC operon and a lux reporter system, APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, 102(4), 1823-1836, 201802
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  23. Successful Transfer of a Model T-DNA Plasmid to E-coli Revealed Its Dependence on Recipient RecA and the Preference of VirD2 Relaxase for Eukaryotes Rather Than Bacteria as Recipients, FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY, 9, 20180528
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  24. Targeting Antibiotic Resistance Genes Is a Better Approach to Block Acquisition of Antibiotic Resistance Than Blocking Conjugal Transfer by Recipient Cells: A Genome-Wide Screening in Escherichia coli, FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY, 10, 20200108
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  25. Isolation and Analysis of Donor Chromosomal Genes Whose Deficiency Is Responsible for Accelerating Bacterial and Trans-Kingdom Conjugations by IncP1 T4SS Machinery, FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY, 12, 620535, 20210520
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI

Invited Lecture, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation

  1. Conjugation: A Possible Driving Force of Horizontal Gene Transfer beyond The Barrier of Domains., Kazuki Moriguchi, Fatin Iffah-Rasyiqah, Cho Yunjae, Kazuya Kiyokawa, Katsunori Suzuki, The 92nd Annual Meeting of the Genetics Society of Japan, 2020/09/17, With Invitation, Japanese, The Genetics Society of Japan, Kumamoto
  2. What can we see from the search of the recipient factor for transmission of the IncP-1 type broad host range plasmid?, Kazuki Moriguchi, Fatin Iffah-Rasyiqah, Cho Yunjae, Kazuya Kiyokawa, Katsunori Suzuki, The 2021 Annual Meeting of The Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology and Agrochemistry, 2021/03/19, With Invitation, English, The Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology and Agrochemistry, on line, IncP-1 plasmids are a group of broad host range plasmids found in proteobacteria. Interestingly, their transfer range is not limited to proteobacteria, but also even to eukaryotes and archaea. To clarify the recipient factors related to IncP-1 conjugal transfer, we have been trying to isolate such factors by genome-wide screenings using knock-out mutants of non-host (S. cerevisiae) and host (E. coli) organisms, respectively. In S. cerevisiae, mutants for Vacuolar-type ATPase genes and mitochondrial ATPase genes were isolated as majority of “down” and “up” mutants for conjugation efficiency, respectively. In the case of E. coli, on the other hand, neither of such mutants was isolated. These results may be important cues when considering the two queries, which are 1) master-servant relationship between donor and recipient, and 2) divergence and evolution of type-4 secretion system from conjugal transfer system in bacteria to protein/DNA transfer system into eukaryotes.
  3. Isolation and Analysis of Donor Chromosomal Gene(s)-Deficient that Responsible in Accelerating the Inter- and Intra-kingdom Conjugations by IncP1 T4SS Machinery, FATIN IFFAH RASYIQAH MOHAMAD ZOOLKEFLI, KAZUKI MORIGUCHI, YUNJAE CHO, KAZUYA KIYOKAWA, SHINJI YAMAMOTO, KATSUNORI SUZUKI., The 43rd Annual Meeting of the Molecular Biology Society of Japan, 2020/12/02, Without Invitation, English, The Molecular Biology Society of Japan, on line, The conjugal transfer is a major driving force of genetic exchange in eubacteria, and the system of IncP1-type broad host range (BHR) plasmid transfers DNA even to eukaryotes and archaea, called Trans-kingdom conjugation (TKC). Although conjugation factors encoded on plasmids have been well-analysed, those on the donor chromosome have not. To identify this potential ʹfactor(s)ʹ, high-throughput genome-wide screening on Escherichia coli gene knock-out mutants (Keio collection) as donor to Saccharomyces cerevisiae recipient has been performed by using a conjugal transfer system mediated by the type IV secretion system (T4SS) of IncP1α plasmid. Out of 3884 mutants, three mutants encoded as a transcriptional repressor protein and two proteins in iron-sulfur cluster assembly machinery, were isolated. These mutants consistently showed increased conjugation efficiency to both E. coli and yeast recipients, without increase of mRNA expression level of conjugation-related genes examined. The double knock-out mutants of those isolated factors also did not show synergistic effect on the conjugation efficiency, suggested that these factors probably act on a common step within the conjugation machinery. These three mutants demonstrated increased conjugation efficiency in IncP1β- but not in IncN- and IncW-type BHR plasmid transfers. The homologous gene knock-out mutants against these factors in Agrobacterium tumefaciens also showed increased TKC efficiency. These results propose existence of specific regulatory system in IncP1 plasmids which could be interacted with those potential factors, that enables to control the conjugation efficiency in different host.
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External Funds

Acceptance Results of Competitive Funds

  1. KAKENHI, 2016, 2018