Yoko Iijima

Yoko Iijima is the first author of a 2004 study characterizing geraniol synthase from aromatic leaf glands. The work connected purification of the plant enzyme with expression in Escherichia coli, where the encoded protein reproduced the geraniol-forming activity.^[ref]

The team used isotope labelling to test mechanism. Water containing oxygen-18 supplied the oxygen incorporated into geraniol, detected through a mass shift by mass spectrometry. That observation distinguished the tested synthesis route from simple removal of a phosphate group while retaining the substrate's original oxygen.^[ref]

Producing the same final molecule does not establish that two catalysts use the same route. Tracing the origin of an atom adds mechanistic information beyond identifying the product. The expression comparison separately linked the isolated gene sequence to the measured enzyme activity.