Dr. Yasuyuki Arakane Research Assistant Professor Kansas State Universtity Department of Biochemistry   141 Chalmers Hall Manhattan, KS 66506 Voice: 785-532-6939 Fax: 785-532-7278 subaru@ksu.edu

Research Interests

In 2000 I received my Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry and Biology from the United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Tottori University, Japan. In 2000-2001 I worked in the Department of Biochemistry at Kansas State University as a Postdoctoral Fellow. My research interests are in the area of chitin metabolism and include the biochemistry and molecular biology of plant and insect chitinolytic enzymes. My current research studies are focused on the structures and functions of insect chitin synthases and their genes.

Selected Publications

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	Publications	Check Out
PDF	Arakane, Y., J. Lomakin, R.W. Beeman, S. Muthukrishnan, S.H. Gehrke, M.R. Kanost, and K.J. Kramer. 2009. Molecular and functional analyses of amino acid decarboxylases involved in cuticle tanning in Tribolium castaneum. J. Biol. Chem. 284: 16584-16594.
PDF	Arakane, Y., R. Dixit, K. Begum, Y. Park, C.A. Specht, H. Merzendorfer, K.J. Kramer, S. Muthukrishnan, and R.W. Beeman. 2009. Analysis of functions of the chitin deacetylase gene family in Tribolium castaneum. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 39: 355-365.
PDF	Arakane, Y., B. Li, S. Muthukrishnan, R.W. Beeman, K.J. Kramer, and Y. Park. 2008. Functional analysis of four neuropeptides, EH, ETH, CCAP and bursicon, and their receptors in adult ecdysis behavior of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. Mech. Dev. 125: 984-995.
PDF	Arakane, Y., C.A. Specht, K.J. Kramer, S. Muthukrishnan, and R.W. Beeman. 2008. Chitin synthases are required for survival, fecundity and egg hatch in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 38: 959-962.
PDF	Dixit, R., Y. Arakane, C.A. Specht, C. Richard, K.J. Kramer, R.W. Beeman, and S. Muthukrishnan. 2008. Domain organization and phylogenetic analysis of proteins from the chitin deacetylase gene family of Tribolium castaneum and three other species of insects. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 38: 440-451.
PDF	Hogenkamp, D.G., Y. Arakane, K.J. Kramer, S. Muthukrishnan, and R.W. Beeman. 2008. Characterization and expression of the B-N-Acetylhexosaminidase gene family of Tribolium castaneum. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 38: 478-489.
PDF	Tribolium Sequencing Consortium (includes R.W. Beeman, M.D. Lorenzen, B. Oppert, J. Lord, K. Kramer, Y. Arakane). 2008. The genome of the model beetle and pest Tribolium castaneum. Nature 452: 949-955.
PDF	Zhu, Q., Y. Arakane, K.J. Kramer, R.W. Beeman, and S. Muthukrishnan. 2008. Domain organization and phylogenetic analysis of the chitinase-like family of proteins in three species of insects. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 38: 452-466.
PDF	Zhu, Q., Y. Arakane, R.W. Beeman, K.J. Kramer, and S. Muthukrishnan. 2008. Functional specialization among insect chitinase family genes revealed by RNA interference. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105: 6650-6655.
PDF	Zhu, Q., Y. Arakane, R.W. Beeman, K.J. Kramer, and S. Muthukrishnan. 2008. Characterization of recombinant chitinase-like proteins of Drosophila melanogaster and Tribolium castaneum. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 38:467-477.
	Eichler, C., J. Lomakin, Y. Arakane, K.J. Kramer, M.R. Kanost, and S.H. Gehrke. 2006. Insect cuticle as a biomimetic material, pp. 4309-4313. In: Proceedings AlChE Annual Meeting, October 30-November 4, 2005. American Institute of Chemical Engineers, New York, N.Y.
PDF	Matsumiya, M., Y. Arakane, A. Haga, S. Muthukrishnan, and K.J. Kramer. 2006. Substrate specificity of chitinases from two species of fish, greenling, Hexagrammos otakii, and common mackerel, Scomber japonicus, and the insect, tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta. Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 70: 971-979.
PDF	Arakane, Y., S. Muthukrishnan, K.J. Kramer, C.A. Specht, Y. Tomoyasu, M.D. Lorenzen, M. Kanost, and R.W. Beeman. 2005. The Tribolium chitin synthase genes TcCHS1 and TcCHS2 are specialized for synthesis of epidermal cuticle and midgut peritrophic matrix. Insect Mol. Biol. 14: 453-463.
PDF	Arakane, Y., S. Muthukrishnan, R.W. Beeman, M.R. Kanost, and K.J. Kramer. 2005. Laccase 2 is the phenoloxidase gene required for beetle cuticle tanning. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102: 11337-11342.
PDF	Bolognesi, R., Y. Arakane, S. Muthukrishnan, K.J. Kramer, W.R. Terra, and C. Ferreira. 2005. Sequences of cDNAs and expression of genes encoding chitin synthase and chitinase in the midgut of Spodoptera frugiperda. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 35: 1249-1259.
PDF	Hogenkamp, D.G., Y. Arakane, L. Zimoch, H. Merzendorfer, K.J. Kramer, R.W. Beeman, M.R. Kanost, C.A. Specht, and S. Muthukrishnan. 2005. Chitin synthase genes in Manduca sexta: characterization of a gut-specific transcript and differential tissue expression of alternatively spliced mRNAs during development. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 35: 529-540.
	Anand, A., Lei, Z., Sumner, L.W., Mysore, K.S., Arakane, Y., Bockus, W.W. and Muthukrishnan, S. 2004. Apoplastic extracts from a transgenic wheat line exhibiting lesion-mimic phenotype have multiple pathogenesis-related protein that are antifungal. Mol. Plant Microbe Interact. 17: 1306-1317.
PDF	Arakane, Y., D.G. Hogenkamp, Y.C. Zhu, K.J. Kramer, C.A. Specht, R.W. Beeman, M.R. Kanost, and S. Muthukrishnan. 2004. Characterization of two chitin synthase genes of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, and alternate exon usage in one of the genes during development. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 34: 291-304.
PDF	Arakane, Y., Q. Zhu, M. Matsumiya, S. Muthukrishnan, and K. J. Kramer. 2003. Properties of catalytic, linker and chitin-binding domains of insect chitinase. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 33: 631-648.
	Arakane, Y., Hoshika, H., Kawashima, N., Fujiya-Tsujimoto, Chika., Sasaki, Yuji. and Koga, D. 2000. Comparison of chitinase isozymes from yam tuber-enzymatic factor controlling the lytic activity of chitinases. Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 64: 723-730. (Link to article)
	Arakane, Y. and Koga, D. 1999. Purification and characterization of a novel chitinase isozyme from yam tuber. Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 63: 1895-1901.
	Koga, D., Yoshioka, T. and Arakane, Y. 1998. HPLC analysis of anomeric formation and cleavage pattern by chitinolytic enzyme. Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 62: 1643-1646.
	Koga, D., Sasaki, Y., Uchiumi, Y., Hirai, N., Arakane, Y. and Nagamatsu, Y. 1997. Purification and characterization of Bombyx mori chitinases. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 27: 757-767.
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