Maize lipoxygenase polynucleotide and methods of use

The invention provides isolated maize lipoxygenase nucleic acids and their encoded proteins. The present invention provides methods and compositions relating to altering lipoxygenase concentration and/or composition of plants. The invention further provides recombinant expression cassettes, host cells, and transgenic plants.U

Maize lipoxygenase polynucleotide and methods of use

The invention provides isolated maize lipoxygenase nucleic acids and their encoded proteins. The present invention provides methods and compositions relating to altering lipoxygenase concentration and/or composition of plants. The invention further provides recombinant expression cassettes, host cells, and transgenic plants.U

TableMaker: An ad hoc Query Tool for Relational Databases

This paper discusses an ad hoc query tool for relational databases. Most Web servers hosting biological data limit users to a defined set of search options and output formats that are short of the whole range of options available to users with direct database access. However, to make full use of the wealth of data in the database resource, it is desirable to have an intermediate solution that provides a broad range of flexible query and output options through a Web portal

PlantGDB: a resource for comparative plant genomics

PlantGDB (http://www.plantgdb.org/) is a genomics database encompassing sequence data for green plants (Viridiplantae). PlantGDB provides annotated transcript assemblies for >100 plant species, with transcripts mapped to their cognate genomic context where available, integrated with a variety of sequence analysis tools and web services. For 14 plant species with emerging or complete genome sequence, PlantGDB's genome browsers (xGDB) serve as a graphical interface for viewing, evaluating and annotating transcript and protein alignments to chromosome or bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)-based genome assemblies. Annotation is facilitated by the integrated yrGATE module for community curation of gene models. Novel web services at PlantGDB include Tracembler, an iterative alignment tool that generates contigs from GenBank trace file data and BioExtract Server, a web-based server for executing custom sequence analysis workflows. PlantGDB also hosts a plant genomics research outreach portal (PGROP) that facilitates access to a large number of resources for research and training.This article is from Nucl. Acids Res. (2008) 36(suppl 1): D959–D965.doi: 10.1093/nar/gkm1041. Posted with permission.</p

MaizeGDB becomes ‘sequence-centric

MaizeGDB is the maize research community’s central repository for genetic and genomic information about the crop plant and research model Zea mays ssp. mays. The MaizeGDB team endeavors to meet research needs as they evolve based on researcher feedback and guidance. Recent work has focused on better integrating existing data with sequence information as it becomes available for the B73, Mo17 and Palomero Toluqueño genomes. Major endeavors along these lines include the implementation of a genome browser to graphically represent genome sequences; implementation of POPcorn, a portal ancillary to MaizeGDB that offers access to independent maize projects and will allow BLAST similarity searches of participating projects’ data sets from a single point; and a joint MaizeGDB/PlantGDB project to involve the maize community in genome annotation. In addition to summarizing recent achievements and future plans, this article also discusses specific examples of community involvement in setting priorities and design aspects of MaizeGDB, which should be of interest to other database and resource providers seeking to better engage their users. MaizeGDB is accessible online athttp://www.maizegdb.org.This article is from Database 2009 (2009): bap20, doi:10.1093/database/bap020.</p

Plant Rac Proteins Induce Superoxide Production in Mammalian Cells

The small GTP-binding protein family including Rac proteins represents a paradigm for signaling molecules shared by animal and plants. In mammalian cells, Rac induces the activation of NADPH oxidase leading to superoxide production. In plants, evidence suggests that resistance to pathogens depends on superoxide that is generated via NADPH oxidase-like enzymes. We have identified four closely related Rho/Rac genes from Zea mays that exhibit a high degree of homology to the human Rac. We hypothesized that these plant Rac proteins could function as their mammalian counterpart and activate an enzymatic complex that leads to superoxide production. Here, we show that like human Rac1, activated Zea mays Rac genes can induce superoxide production, when expressed in a mammalian system: NIH 3T3 cells. Our results suggest that in plants, Rac proteins can function as activators of oxidative burst and indicate the remarkable functional and structural conservation of Rho/Rac proteins between plant and animal kingdoms during evolution