|
| ||
|
|
||
Biosynthesis Enzymes (biosynthesis + enzyme)
Selected AbstractsEnhancing plant growth and fiber production by silencing GA 2-oxidasePLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL, Issue 4 2010Jonathan Dayan Summary Enhancing plant height and growth rates is a principal objective of the fiber, pulp, wood and biomass product industries. Many biotechnological systems have been established to advance that task with emphasis on increasing the concentration of the plant hormone gibberellin, or on its signalling. In this respect, the most studied gibberellin biosynthesis enzyme is the GA 20-oxidase which catalyses the rate limiting step of the pathway. Overexpression of the gene resulted in an excessively high activity of the gibberellin deactivating enzyme, GA 2-oxidase. Consequently, this feedback regulation limits the intended outcome. We assume that silencing GA 2-oxidase transcription would abolish this antithetical effect, thereby allowing greater gibberellin accumulation. Here, we show that silencing the gibberellin deactivating enzyme in tobacco model plants results in a dramatic improvement of their growth characteristics, compared with the wild type and GA 20-oxidase over-expressing plants. Moreover, the number of xylem fiber cells in the silenced lines exceeded that of GA 20-oxidase over-expressing plants, potentially, making GA 2-oxidase silencing more profitable for the wood and fiber industries. Interestingly, crossing GA 20-oxidase over-expressing plants with GA 2-oxidase silenced plants did not yield consequential additive effects. Our findings unveil the benefits of silencing GA 2-oxidase to substantially increase tobacco growth and fiber production, which suggest using this approach in cultivated forest plantations and industrial herbaceous plants, worldwide. [source] Submitochondrial localization of 6- N -trimethyllysine dioxygenase , implications for carnitine biosynthesisFEBS JOURNAL, Issue 22 2007Naomi Van Vlies The first enzyme of carnitine biosynthesis is the mitochondrial 6- N -trimethyllysine dioxygenase, which converts 6- N -trimethyllysine to 3-hydroxy-6- N -trimethyllysine. Using progressive membrane solubilization with digitonin and protease protection experiments, we show that this enzyme is localized in the mitochondrial matrix. Latency experiments with intact mitochondria showed that 3-hydroxy-6- N -trimethyllysine formation is limited by 6- N -trimethyllysine transport across the mitochondrial inner membrane. Because the subsequent carnitine biosynthesis enzymes are cytosolic, after production, 3-hydroxy-6- N -trimethyllysine must be transported out of the mitochondria by a putative mitochondrial 6- N -trimethyllysine/3-hydroxy-6- N -trimethyllysine transporter system. This transport system represents an additional step in carnitine biosynthesis that could have considerable implications for the regulation of carnitine biosynthesis. [source] Diminished expression of dihydropteridine reductase is a potent biomarker for hypertensive vesselsPROTEINS: STRUCTURE, FUNCTION AND BIOINFORMATICS, Issue 21 2009Chang-Kwon Lee Abstract To identify the new targets for hypertension, we analyzed the protein expression profiles of aortic smooth muscle in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) of various ages during the development of hypertension, as well as in age-matched normotensive Wistar,Kyoto (WKY) rats, using a proteomic analysis. The expressions of seven proteins were altered in SHR compared with WKY rats. Of these proteins, NADH dehydrogenase 1,, GST,1, peroxi-redoxin I and transgelin were upregulated in SHR compared with WKY rats. On the other hand, the expression of HSP27 and Ran protein decreased in SHR. The diminution of dihydrobiopterin reductase, an enzyme located in the regeneration pathways of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), was also prominent in SHR. The results from a PCR analysis revealed that the expression of BH4 biosynthesis enzymes , GTP cyclohydrolase-1 and sepiapterin reductase , decreased and increased, respectively, in SHR compared with WKY rats. The level of BH4 was less in aortic strips from SHR than from WKY rats. Moreover, treatment with BH4 inhibited aortic smooth muscle contraction induced by serotonin. These results suggest that the deficiency in BH4 regeneration produced by diminished dihydrobiopterin reductase expression is involved in vascular disorders in hypertensive rats. [source] Phototropin involvement in the expression of genes encoding chlorophyll and carotenoid biosynthesis enzymes and LHC apoproteins in Chlamydomonas reinhardtiiTHE PLANT JOURNAL, Issue 1 2006Chung-Soon Im Summary Phototropin (PHOT) is a photoreceptor involved in a variety of blue-light-elicited physiological processes including phototropism, chloroplast movement and stomatal opening in plants. The work presented here tests whether PHOT is involved in expression of light-regulated genes in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. When C. reinhardtii was transferred from the dark to very low-fluence rate white light, there was a substantial increase in the level of transcripts encoding glutamate-1-semialdehyde aminotransferase (GSAT), phytoene desaturase (PDS) and light-harvesting polypeptides (e.g. LHCBM6). Increased levels of these transcripts were also elicited by low-intensity blue light, and this blue-light stimulation was suppressed in three different RNAi strains that synthesize low levels of PHOT. The levels of GSAT and LHCBM6 transcripts also increased following exposure of algal cells to low-intensity red light (RL). The red-light-dependent increase in transcript abundance was not affected by the electron transport inhibitor 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea, implying that the influence of RL on transcript accumulation was not controlled by cytoplasmic redox conditions, and that a red-light photoreceptor(s) may be involved in regulating the levels of transcripts from specific photosynthesis-related genes in C. reinhardtii. Interestingly, elevated GSAT and LHCBM6 transcript levels in RL were significantly reduced in the PHOT RNAi strains, which raises the possibility of co-action between blue and RL signaling pathways. Microarray experiments indicated that the levels of several transcripts for photosystem (PS) I and II polypeptides were also modulated by PHOT. These data suggest that, in C. reinhardtii, (i) PHOT is involved in blue-light-mediated changes in transcript accumulation, (ii) synchronization of the synthesis of chlorophylls (Chl), carotenoids, Chl-binding proteins and other components of the photosynthetic apparatus is achieved, at least in part, through PHOT-mediated signaling, and (iii) a red-light photoreceptor can also influence levels of certain transcripts associated with photosynthetic function, although its action requires normal levels of PHOT. [source] The role of inorganic phosphate in the development of freezing tolerance and the acclimatization of photosynthesis to low temperature is revealed by the pho mutants of Arabidopsis thalianaTHE PLANT JOURNAL, Issue 3 2000Vaughan Hurry Summary Low temperature inhibits sucrose synthesis, leading to a phosphate-limitation of photosynthesis. We have used the Arabidopsis pho1-2 and pho2-1 mutants with decreased and increased shoot phosphate, respectively, to investigate whether low phosphate triggers cold acclimatization of photosynthetic carbon metabolism. Wild-type Arabidopsis, pho1-2 and pho2-1 were grown at 23°C and transferred to 5°C to investigate acclimatization in pre-existing leaves and in new leaves developing at 5°C. The development of frost tolerance and the accumulation of proline and sugars was unaltered or improved in pho1-2, and impaired in pho2-1. Sucrose phosphate synthase and cytoplasmic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase activity and protein increase after transfer to 5°C. This increase was accentuated in pho1-2 and attenuated in pho2-1. RBCS and LHCB2 transcript levels decrease in pre-formed wild-type leaves after transfer to 5°C and recover in new leaves that develop at 5°C. The initial decrease was attenuated in pho1-2, and accentuated in pho2-1, where the recovery in new leaves was also suppressed. Rubisco activity increased in wild-type leaves that developed at 5°C. This increase was accentuated in pho1-2 and absent in pho2-1. NADP-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, plastidic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase and aldolase activity increase relative to phosphoglycerate kinase, transketolase and phosphoribulokinase in wild-type leaves at 5°C. This shift was accentuated in pho1-2 and reversed in pho2-1. Transcript levels for COR genes increase transiently 1 day after transfer to 5°C but were very low in leaves that developed at 5°C in wild-type Arabidopsis, pho1-2 and pho2-1. We conclude that low phosphate plays an important role in triggering cold acclimatization of leaves, leading in particular to an increase of Rubisco expression, changes in other Calvin cycle enzymes to minimize sequestration of phosphate in metabolites, and increased expression of sucrose biosynthesis enzymes. [source] Proteome analysis to assess physiological changes in Escherichia coli grown under glucose-limited fed-batch conditionsBIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOENGINEERING, Issue 3 2005Babu Raman Abstract Proteome analysis was used to compare global protein expression changes in Escherichia coli fermentation between exponential and glucose-limited fed-batch phase. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry were used to separate and identify 49 proteins showing >2-fold difference in expression. Proteins upregulated during exponential phase include ribonucleotide biosynthesis enzymes and ribosomal recycling factor. Proteins upregulated during fed-batch phase include those involved in high-affinity glucose uptake, transport and degradation of alternate carbon sources and TCA cycle, suggesting an enhanced role of the cycle under glucose- and energy-limited conditions. We report the upregulation of several putative proteins (ytfQ, ygiS, ynaF, yggX, yfeX), not identified in any previous study under carbon-limited conditions. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] | |||||||||||||