Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-1700, USA.
Annu Rev Biochem. 2011;80:16-40. doi: 10.1146/annurev-biochem-082808-091843.
My journey into a research career began in fermentation biochemistry in an applied science department during the difficult post-World War II time in Japan. Subsequently, my desire to do research in basic science developed. I was fortunate to be a postdoctoral fellow in the United States during the early days of molecular biology. From 1957 to 1960, I worked with three pioneers of molecular biology, Sol Spiegelman, James Watson, and Seymour Benzer. These experiences helped me develop into a basic research scientist. My initial research projects at Osaka University, and subsequently at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, were on the mode of action of colicins as well as on mRNA and ribosomes. Following success in the reconstitution of ribosomal subunits, my efforts focused more on ribosomes, initially on the aspects of structure, function, and in vitro assembly, such as the construction of the 30S subunit assembly map. After this, my laboratory studied the regulation of the synthesis of ribosomes and ribosomal components in Escherichia coli. Our achievements included the discovery of translational feedback regulation of ribosomal protein synthesis and the identification of several repressor ribosomal proteins used in this regulation. In 1984, I moved to the University of California, Irvine, and initiated research on rRNA transcription by RNA polymerase I in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The use of yeast genetics combined with biochemistry allowed us to identify genes uniquely involved in rRNA synthesis and to elucidate the mechanism of initiation of transcription. This essay is a reflection on my life as a research scientist.
我的科研生涯始于二战后日本一个应用科学系的发酵生物化学领域。随后，我产生了从事基础科学研究的愿望。在分子生物学的早期，我有幸成为美国的一名博士后研究员。1957 年至 1960 年，我与分子生物学的三位先驱——索尔·斯皮格尔曼、詹姆斯·沃森和西摩·本泽尔——共事。这些经历帮助我成长为一名基础研究科学家。我在大阪大学和随后的威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校的最初研究项目是关于肠毒素的作用模式以及 mRNA 和核糖体。在成功重建核糖体亚基后，我的努力更多地集中在核糖体上，最初是研究结构、功能和体外组装等方面，例如构建 30S 亚基组装图谱。在此之后，我的实验室研究了大肠杆菌中核糖体和核糖体成分合成的调控。我们的研究成果包括发现了核糖体蛋白合成的翻译反馈调节以及鉴定了用于这种调节的几种抑制性核糖体蛋白。1984 年，我搬到加利福尼亚大学欧文分校，开始研究酵母酿酒酵母中 RNA 聚合酶 I 对 rRNA 的转录。使用酵母遗传学与生物化学相结合，使我们能够鉴定出唯一参与 rRNA 合成的基因，并阐明转录起始的机制。本文是对我作为一名科研工作者的生活的反思。
