255 research outputs found
Acyl-CoA-binding proteins help plants 'degrease' adversities
Tag Archives: Protein (Research) - 24 May 2016postprin
Transgenic tobacco overexpressing Brassica juncea HMG-CoA synthase 1 shows increased plant growth, pod size and seed yield
Seeds are very important not only in the life cycle of the plant but they represent food sources for man and animals. We report herein a mutant of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A synthase (HMGS), the second enzyme in the mevalonate (MVA) pathway that can improve seed yield when overexpressed in a phylogenetically distant species. In Brassica juncea, the characterisation of four isogenes encoding HMGS has been previously reported. Enzyme kinetics on recombinant wild-type (wt) and mutant BjHMGS1 had revealed that S359A displayed a 10-fold higher enzyme activity. The overexpression of wt and mutant (S359A) BjHMGS1 in Arabidopsis had up-regulated several genes in sterol biosynthesis, increasing sterol content. To quickly assess the effects of BjHMGS1 overexpression in a phylogenetically more distant species beyond the Brassicaceae, wt and mutant (S359A) BjHMGS1 were expressed in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Xanthi) of the family Solanaceae. New observations on tobacco OEs not previously reported for Arabidopsis OEs included: (i) phenotypic changes in enhanced plant growth, pod size and seed yield (more significant in OE-S359A than OE-wtBjHMGS1) in comparison to vector-transformed tobacco, (ii) higher NtSQS expression and sterol content in OE-S359A than OE-wtBjHMGS1 corresponding to greater increase in growth and seed yield, and (iii) induction of NtIPPI2 and NtGGPPS2 and downregulation of NtIPPI1, NtGGPPS1, NtGGPPS3 and NtGGPPS4. Resembling Arabidopsis HMGS-OEs, tobacco HMGS-OEs displayed an enhanced expression of NtHMGR1, NtSMT1-2, NtSMT2-1, NtSMT2-2 and NtCYP85A1. Overall, increased growth, pod size and seed yield in tobacco HMGS-OEs were attributed to the up-regulation of native NtHMGR1, NtIPPI2, NtSQS, NtSMT1-2, NtSMT2-1, NtSMT2-2 and NtCYP85A1. Hence, S359A has potential in agriculture not only in improving phytosterol content but also seed yield, which may be desirable in food crops. This work further demonstrates HMGS function in plant reproduction that is reminiscent to reduced fertility of hmgs RNAi lines in let-7 mutants of Caenorhabditis elegans.published_or_final_versio
Depletion of Arabidopsis ACYL-COA-BINDING PROTEIN3 affects fatty acid composition in the phloem
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Az ingĂĄzĂĄs tĂ©rbeli jellegzetessĂ©geinek vĂĄltozĂĄsa az Ăszak-DunĂĄntĂșlon, kĂŒlönös tekintettel GyĆr munkaĂŒgyi vonzĂĄskörzetĂ©re
A tanulmĂĄnyban megvizsgĂĄljuk a KSH ĂĄltal 2001-ben Ă©s 2011-ben elvĂ©gzett nĂ©pszĂĄmlĂĄlĂĄs ingĂĄzĂĄsra vonatkozĂł fĆbb adatainak Ă©s a kĂ©t felvĂ©tel összehasonlĂtĂĄsa sorĂĄn tapasztalt eltĂ©rĂ©sek terĂŒleti konzekvenciĂĄit. A vizsgĂĄlat cĂ©lja elsĆsorban az volt, hogy GyĆr körĂ© szervezĆdĆ ingĂĄzĂł, munkaĂŒgyi vonzĂĄsterek jellegzetessĂ©geit megismerjĂŒk. EzĂ©rt az orszĂĄgos szintƱ vizsgĂĄlatok mellett rĂ©szletesebben koncentrĂĄltunk az Ă©szak-DunĂĄntĂșlra, melynek központrendszerĂ©t tĂĄrtuk fel, s mĂ©g rĂ©szletesebben vizsgĂĄltuk ezen belĂŒl GyĆr, s a vĂĄroskörnyĂ©ki tĂ©r jellegzetessĂ©geit
Transgenic plant-derived siRNAs can suppress propagation of influenza virus in mammalian cells
As an example of the cost-effective large-scale generation of small-interfering RNA (siRNAs), we have created transgenic tobacco plants that produce siRNAs targeted to the mRNA of the non-structural protein NS1 from the influenza A virus subtype H1N1. We have investigated if these siRNAs, specifically targeted to the 5 âČ-portion of the NS1 transcripts (5mNS1), would suppress viral propagation in mammalian cells. Agroinfiltration of transgenic tobacco with an Agrobacterium strain harboring a 5mNS1-expressing binary vector caused a reduction in 5mNS1 transcripts in the siRNA-accumulating transgenic plants. Further, H1N1 infection of siRNA-transfected mammalian cells resulted in significant suppression of viral replication. These results demonstrate that plant-derived siRNAs can inhibit viral propagation through RNA interference and could potentially be applied in control of viral-borne diseases. © 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies.postprin
Improved fruit a-tocopherol, carotenoid, squalene and phytosterol content through manipulation of Brassica juncea 3-HYDROXY-3-METHYLGLUTARYL-COA SYNTHASE1 in transgenic tomato
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The first plant acyl-CoA-binding protein structures: the close homologues OsACBP1 and OsACBP2 from rice
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Genome-wide identification and Phylogenic analysis of kelch motif containing ACBP in Brassica napus
The Role of the Proteinase Inhibitor Ovorubin in Apple Snail Eggs Resembles Plant Embryo Defense against Predation
BACKGROUND: Fieldwork has thoroughly established that most eggs are intensely predated. Among the few exceptions are the aerial egg clutches from the aquatic snail Pomacea canaliculata which have virtually no predators. Its defenses are advertised by the pigmented ovorubin perivitellin providing a conspicuous reddish coloration. The nature of the defense however, was not clear, except for a screening for defenses that identified a neurotoxic perivitellin with lethal effect on rodents. Ovorubin is a proteinase inhibitor (PI) whose role to protect against pathogens was taken for granted, according to the prevailing assumption. Through biochemical, biophysical and feeding experiments we studied the proteinase inhibitor function of ovorubin in egg defenses. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Mass spectrometry sequencing indicated ovorubin belongs to the Kunitz-type serine proteinase inhibitor family. It specifically binds trypsin as determined by small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and cross-linking studies but, in contrast to the classical assumption, it does not prevent bacterial growth. Ovorubin was found extremely resistant to in vitro gastrointestinal proteolysis. Moreover feeding studies showed that ovorubin ingestion diminishes growth rate in rats indicating that this highly stable PI is capable of surviving passage through the gastrointestinal tract in a biologically active form. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first direct evidence of the interaction of an egg PI with a digestive protease of potential predators, limiting predator's ability to digest egg nutrients. This role has not been reported in the animal kingdom but it is similar to plant defenses against herbivory. Further, this would be the only defense model with no trade-offs between conspicuousness and noxiousness by encoding into the same molecule both the aposematic warning signal and an antinutritive/antidigestive defense. These defenses, combined with a neurotoxin and probably unpalatable factors would explain the near absence of predators, opening new perspectives in the study of the evolution and ecology of egg defensive strategies
Altered orbitofrontal sulcogyral patterns in gambling disorder: a multicenter study
Gambling disorder is a serious psychiatric condition characterized by decision-making and reward processing
impairments that are associated with dysfunctional brain activity in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). However, it remains
unclear whether OFC functional abnormalities in gambling disorder are accompanied by structural abnormalities. We
addressed this question by examining the organization of sulci and gyri in the OFC. This organization is in place very
early and stable across life, such that OFC sulcogyral patterns (classified into Types I, II, and III) can be regarded as
potential pre-morbid markers of pathological conditions. We gathered structural brain data from nine existing studies,
reaching a total of 165 individuals with gambling disorder and 159 healthy controls. Our results, supported by both
frequentist and Bayesian statistics, show that the distribution of OFC sulcogyral patterns is skewed in individuals with
gambling disorder, with an increased prevalence of Type II pattern compared with healthy controls. Examination of
gambling severity did not reveal any significant relationship between OFC sulcogyral patterns and disease severity.
Altogether, our results provide evidence for a skewed distribution of OFC sulcogyral patterns in gambling disorder and
suggest that pattern Type II might represent a pre-morbid structural brain marker of the disease. It will be important to
investigate more closely the functional implications of these structural abnormalities in future work.Y.L. was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant
No. 31600929) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central
Universities (010914380002). G.S. was supported by a Veni grant from the
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (Grant No. 016.155.218). J.J.
was supported by the Academy of Finland (Grant No. 295580), the Finnish
Medical Foundation, and the Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies. V.K. was
supported by the Academy of Finland (Grant No. 256836) and the Finnish
Foundation for Alcohol Studies. S.G. and H.R.S. were supported by the Danish
Council for Independent Research in Social Sciences through a grant to
Thomas RamsĂžy (âDecision Neuroscience Projectâ; Grant No. 0601-01361B) and
by the Lundbeck Foundation through a Grant of Excellence (âContActâ; Grant
No. R59 A5399). A.G. was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
(DFG) HE2597/15â1, HE2597/15â2, and DFG Graduiertenkolleg 1589/2 âSensory
Computation in Neural Systemsâ. N.R.-S. was supported by a research grant by
the Senatsverwaltung fĂŒr Gesundheit und Soziales, Berlin, Germany (Grant No.
002â2008/I B 35). C.M.R.d.L. and J.C.P. were supported by a grant from the
Spanish Government (Ministerio de EconomĂa y Competitividad, SecretarĂa de
Estado de InvestigaciĂłn, Desarrollo e InnovaciĂłn; Convocatoria 2017 de
Proyectos I+D de Excelencia, Spain; co-funded by the Fondo Europeo de
Desarrollo Regional, FEDER, European Union; Grant No. PSI2017â85488-P). J.-C.
D. was supported by âLABEX ANR-11-LABEX-0042â of UniversitĂ© de Lyon within
the program Investissements dâAvenir (ANR-11-IDEX-007) operated by the
French National Research Agency and by a grant from the Fondation pour la
Recherche MĂ©dicale (Grant No. DPA20140629796)
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