RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science Chemical Biology and Biosynthesis Research Team

Team Leader: Takayoshi Awakawa (Ph.D.)

Japanese Page

Research Summary

Our laboratory aims to contribute to solving social issues such as the decrease and depletion of natural resources and to advance environmental resource science research through research on chemical biology and biosynthesis, including research on new useful natural products using biosynthetic methods. We analyze the biosynthesis pathway of bioactive substances and construct substance production systems in microbial hosts. We create non-natural compounds by modifying biosynthetic pathways and enzyme functions in the production system. We also analyze the mechanism of action of the bioactive compounds and obtain new knowledge in chemical biology.

Main Research Fields

Complex Systems

Related Research Fields

Chemistry
Agricultural Sciences
Biology
Medicine, Dentistry & Pharmacy
Chemical biology
Biomolecular Chemistry
Natural product chemistry

Keywords

Chemical biology
Bioactive compounds
Synthetic biology
Biosynthetic redesign

Selected Publications

Papers with an asterisk(*) are based on research conducted outside of RIKEN.

1. Meng, L.-H., Awakawa, T., Li, X.-M., Quan, Z., Yang, .S-Q., Wang, B.-G., Abe, I.:
"Discovery of (±)-Penindolenes Reveals an Unusual Indole Ring Cleavage Pathway Catalyzed by P450 Monooxygenase."
Angew Chem Int Ed, 63, e202403963-e202403971(2024)
2. Awakawa, T., Mori ,T., Barra L., Ahmed, Y., Ushimaru R., Gao, Y., Adachi, N., Senda, T., Terada, T., Tantillo, D. J., Abe, I.:
"The structural basis of pyridoxal 5’-phosphate dependent β-NAD alkylating enzymes"
Nature Catalysis, 7, 1099–1108 (2024)
3. Zhou, L., Awakawa ,T., Ushimaru, R., Kanaida, M., Abe, I.:
"Characterization of Aziridine-Forming α‑Ketoglutarate-Dependent Oxygenase in l‑Isovaline Biosynthesis"
Org. Lett, 26, 724–727(2024)
4. Awakawa, T., Mori, T., Ushimaru, R., Abe, I.:
"Structure-based engineering of α-ketoglutarate dependent oxygenases in fungal meroterpenoid biosynthesis"
Nat. Prod. Rep, 40, 46-61(2023)
5. *Barra, L., Awakawa, T., Shirai, K., Hu, Z., Bashiri, G., Abe, I.:
"β-NAD as a Building Block in Natural Product Biosynthesis."
Nature (2021) 600, 754–758 (2021).
6. *Li, X., Awakawa, T., Mori, T., Ling, M., Hu, D., Wu, B., Abe, I.:
"Heterodimeric non-heme iron enzymes in fungal meroterpenoid biosynthesis."
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 143, 21425-21432 (2021).
7. *Bunno, R., Awakawa, T., Mori, T., Abe, I.:
"Aziridine formation by a Fe(II)/α-ketoglutarate dependent oxygenase and 2-aminoisobutyrate biosynthesis in fungi"
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 60, 15827-15831 (2021).
8. *Song, X.-J., Lv, J.-M., Cao, Z.-Q., Huang, H.-Y., Chen, G.-D., Awakawa, T., Hu, D., Gao, H., Abe, I., Yao, X.-S.:
"Extensive expanding the chemical diversity of fusidane-type antibiotics using a stochastic combinational strategy."
Acta Pharm. Sinica B, 11, 1676-1685 (2021)
9. *Kudo, Y., Awakawa, T., Du, Y.-L., Jordan, P. A., Creamer, K. E., Jensen, P. R., Linington, R. G., Ryan, K. S., Moore, B. S.:
"Expansion of gamma-butyrolactone signaling molecule biosynthesis to phosphotriester natural products."
ACS Chem. Biol. 15, 3253–3261 (2020).
10. *Hu, Z., Awakawa, T., Ma, Z., Abe, I.:
"Aminoacyl sulfonamide assembly in SB-203208 biosynthesis."
Nature Commun. 10, Article number: 184 (2019).

Lab Members

Principal investigator

Takayoshi Awakawa: Team Leader

Core members

Zhiyang Quan: Research Scientist
Wenjiao Cheng: RIKEN Student Researcher M
Hiroyuki Seko: Student Trainee

Careers

Position	Deadline
Seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher (W24231)	Open until filled

Contact Information

#302 Chemical Biology Building
2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
Email: takayoshi.awakawa＠riken.jp