Geschmack ist vorhersagbar: Mit FlavorMiner. FlavorMiner heißt das Tool, das IPB-Chemiker und Partner aus Kolumbien jüngst entwickelt haben. Das Programm kann, basierend auf maschinellem Lernen (KI), anhand der…
Seit Februar 2021 bietet Wolfgang Brandt, ehemaliger Leiter der Arbeitsgruppe Computerchemie am IPB, sein Citizen Science-Projekt zur Pilzbestimmung an. Dafür hat er in regelmäßigen Abständen öffentliche Vorträge zur Vielfalt…
Geu-Flores, F.; Møldrup, M. E.; Böttcher, C.; Olsen, C. E.; Scheel, D.; Halkier, B. A.;Cytosolic γ-Glutamyl Peptidases Process Glutathione Conjugates in the Biosynthesis of Glucosinolates and Camalexin in ArabidopsisPlant Cell232456-2469(2011)DOI: 10.1105/tpc.111.083998
The defense-related plant metabolites known as glucosinolates play important roles in agriculture, ecology, and human health. Despite an advanced biochemical understanding of the glucosinolate pathway, the source of the reduced sulfur atom in the core glucosinolate structure remains unknown. Recent evidence has pointed toward GSH, which would require further involvement of a GSH conjugate processing enzyme. In this article, we show that an Arabidopsis thaliana mutant impaired in the production of the γ-glutamyl peptidases GGP1 and GGP3 has altered glucosinolate levels and accumulates up to 10 related GSH conjugates. We also show that the double mutant is impaired in the production of camalexin and accumulates high amounts of the camalexin intermediate GS-IAN upon induction. In addition, we demonstrate that the cellular and subcellular localization of GGP1 and GGP3 matches that of known glucosinolate and camalexin enzymes. Finally, we show that the purified recombinant GGPs can metabolize at least nine of the 10 glucosinolate-related GSH conjugates as well as GS-IAN. Our results demonstrate that GSH is the sulfur donor in the biosynthesis of glucosinolates and establish an in vivo function for the only known cytosolic plant γ-glutamyl peptidases, namely, the processing of GSH conjugates in the glucosinolate and camalexin pathways.
Publikation
Gesell, A.; Díaz Chávez, M. L.; Kramell, R.; Piotrowski, M.; Macheroux, P.; Kutchan, T. M.;Heterologous expression of two FAD-dependent oxidases with (S)-tetrahydroprotoberberine oxidase activity from Arge mone mexicana and Berberis wilsoniae in insect cellsPlanta2331185-1197(2011)DOI: 10.1007/s00425-011-1357-4
Berberine, palmatine and dehydrocoreximine are end products of protoberberine biosynthesis. These quaternary protoberberines are elicitor inducible and, like other phytoalexins, are highly oxidized. The oxidative potential of these compounds is derived from a diverse array of biosynthetic steps involving hydroxylation, intra-molecular C–C coupling, methylenedioxy bridge formation and a dehydrogenation reaction as the final step in the biosynthesis. For the berberine biosynthetic pathway, the identification of the dehydrogenase gene is the last remaining uncharacterized step in the elucidation of the biosynthesis at the gene level. An enzyme able to catalyze these reactions, (S)-tetrahydroprotoberberine oxidase (STOX, EC 1.3.3.8), was originally purified in the 1980s from suspension cells of Berberis wilsoniae and identified as a flavoprotein (Amann et al. 1984). We report enzymatic activity from recombinant STOX expressed in Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 insect cells. The coding sequence was derived successively from peptide sequences of purified STOX protein. Furthermore, a recombinant oxidase with protoberberine dehydrogenase activity was obtained from a cDNA library of Argemone mexicana, a traditional medicinal plant that contains protoberberine alkaloids. The relationship of the two enzymes is discussed regarding their enzymatic activity, phylogeny and the alkaloid occurrence in the plants. Potential substrate binding and STOX-specific amino acid residues were identified based on sequence analysis and homology modeling.
Publikation
Geissler, T.; Wessjohann, L. A.;A Whole-Plant Microtiter Plate Assay for Drought Stress Tolerance-Inducing EffectsJ. Plant Growth Regul.30504-511(2011)DOI: 10.1007/s00344-011-9212-1
The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and global temperature are rising, which poses a potential threat to life, specifically crops, and therefore food and bioenergy supply. Reduced water availability has the most severe impact on potential grain yield. Negative effects of transient drought stress (dry spells) can be countered by drought tolerance-inducing chemicals. In search for useful compounds, biochemical assays are fast but limited in scope, whereas whole-plant assays are slow, require large amounts of compounds, and are usually not concentration-related. Here we report the development of a fast, concentration-dependent whole-plant assay using the fast growing duckweed Lemna minor L. 4-Amino-1,8-naphthalimide (1) and the imidacloprid metabolite 6-chloronicotinic acid (2) were affirmed as drought stress tolerance enhancers. Both also reduce oxidative stress-induced cell death in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. cell suspension culture but show differences in their mode of action.
Publikation
Fredericks, W. J.; McGarvey, T.; Wang, H.; Lal, P.; Puthiyaveettil, R.; Tomaszewski, J.; Sepulveda, J.; Labelle, E.; Weiss, J. S.; Nickerson, M. L.; Kruth, H. S.; Brandt, W.; Wessjohann, L. A.; Malkowicz, S. B.;The Bladder Tumor Suppressor Protein TERE1 (UBIAD1) Modulates Cell Cholesterol: Implications for Tumor ProgressionDNA Cell Biol.30851-864(2011)DOI: 10.1089/dna.2011.1315
Convergent evidence implicates the TERE1 protein in human bladder tumor progression and lipid metabolism. Previously, reduced TERE1 expression was found in invasive urologic cancers and inhibited cell growth upon re-expression. A role in lipid metabolism was suggested by TERE1 binding to APOE, a cholesterol carrier, and to TBL2, a candidate protein in triglyceride disorders. Natural TERE1 mutations associate with Schnyder's corneal dystrophy, characterized by lipid accumulation. TERE1 catalyzes menaquinone synthesis, known to affect cholesterol homeostasis. To explore this relationship, we altered TERE1 and TBL2 dosage via ectopic expression and interfering RNA and measured cholesterol by Amplex red. Protein interactions of wild-type and mutant TERE1 with GST-APOE were evaluated by binding assays and molecular modeling. We conducted a bladder tumor microarray TERE1 expression analysis and assayed tumorigenicity of J82 cells ectopically expressing TERE1. TERE1 expression was reduced in a third of invasive specimens. Ectopic TERE1 expression in J82 bladder cancer cells dramatically inhibited nude mouse tumorigenesis. TERE1 and TBL2 proteins inversely modulated cellular cholesterol in HEK293 and bladder cancer cells from 20% to 50%. TERE1 point mutations affected APOE interactions, and resulted in cholesterol levels that differed from wild type. Elevated tumor cell cholesterol is known to affect apoptosis and growth signaling; thus, loss of TERE1 in invasive bladder cancer may represent a defect in menaquinone-mediated cholesterol homeostasis that contributes to progression.