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A research group led by Professor Sakuta discovered that an enzyme secreted by the rice blast fungus is a new type of enzymeUtsunomiya Campus

A research group led by Shohei Sakuta, a specially appointed Professor Environment and Biotechnology Course Department of Integrated Science and Engineering Science and Faculty of Science and Engineering Teikyo University, has discovered that "MoChia1," an enzyme secreted by the rice blast fungus (Magnaporthe oryzae), a major disease of rice, is a novel type of enzyme. Because this enzyme exhibits unique activity, it is expected to be used as a catalyst for synthesizing chitin oligosaccharide derivatives with novel functions. Furthermore, since "MoChia1" is inhibited by allosamidin, a chitinase inhibitor, it is expected that this will lead to the development of new pesticides that suppress infection by the rice blast fungus.
The results of this research were published online on April 17, 2026 (Friday) in The Journal of Biological Chemistry, published by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

The press release is available here.
Click here for information about Professor Sakuta.

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