Drought resistance of Sorghum bicolor. 6. Changes in endogenous growth regulators of plants grown across an irrigation gradient

A gradient of water stress was created among sorghum plants with a line-source sprinkler irrigation system. Changes in endogenous growth regulators, leaf water potential (ψw), solute potential (ψs), leaf conductance, leaf temperature, leaf senescence, leaf area and plant height were monitored. Abscisic acid (AbA) levels were increased and phaseic acid (PA) levels were reduced under stress. IAA levels could not be related to stress. Leaf ψw, leaf ψs and leaf conductance were reduced and leaf temperature was increased by water stress. Leaf area development was more sensitive to stress than stem elongation. Linear correlations between irrigation, AbA, leaf ψw, leaf ψs and plant height were high (r > 0.9). The correlation between AbA and grain yield (r = − 0.65) was similar to that between irrigation and grain yield (r = 0.68), but opposite in sign. Leaf AbA content measured during early growth could thus be used to predict grain yield under a given irrigation regime.Key words: Abscisic acid, phaseic acid, indole-3-acetic acid, water stress, grain yield, sorghu

Enzymatic and Electron Transfer Activities in Crystalline Protein Complexes

Enzymatic and electron transfer activities have been studied by polarized absorption spectroscopy in single crystals of both binary and ternary complexes of methylamine dehydrogenase (MADH) with its redox partners. Within the crystals, MADH oxidizes methylamine, and the electrons are passed from the reduced tryptophan tryptophylquinone (TTQ) cofactor to the copper of amicyanin and to the heme of cytochrome c551i via amicyanin. The equilibrium distribution of electrons among the cofactors, and the rate of heme reduction after reaction with substrate, are both dependent on pH. The presence of copper in the ternary complex is not absolutely required for electron transfer from TTQ to heme, but its presence greatly enhances the rate of electron flow to the heme

Problems and prospects for increasing yield under drought: Criticism and synthesis with sorghum

Although drought causes, more yield losses than the combined effect of all abiotic stress factors, the progress in increasing yield under water limited environment is small..

Accommodating a Non-Conservative Internal Mutation by WaterMediated Hydrogen-Bonding Between β-Sheet Strands: A Comparison of Human and Rat Type B (Mitochondrial) Cytochrome b5

Mammalian type B (mitochondrial) cytochromes b5 exhibit greater amino acid sequence diversity than their type A (microsomal) counterparts, as exemplified by the type B proteins from human (hCYB5B) and rat (rCYB5B). The comparison of X-ray crystal structures of hCYB5B and rCYB5B reported herein reveals a striking difference in packing involving the five-stranded β-sheet, attributable to fully buried residue 21 in strand β4. The greater bulk of Leu21 in hCYB5B in comparison to Thr21 in rCYB5B results in a substantial displacement of the first two residues in β5, and consequent loss of two of the three hydrogen bonds between β5 and β4. Hydrogen-bonding between the residues is instead mediated by two well-ordered, fully buried water molecules. In a 10 ns molecular dynamics simulation, one of the buried water molecules in the hCYB5B structure exchanged readily with solvent via intermediates having three water molecules sandwiched between β4 and β5. When the buried water molecules were removed prior to a second 10 ns simulation, β4 and β5 formed persistent hydrogen bonds identical to those in rCYB5B, but the Leu21 side chain was forced to adopt a rarely observed conformation. Despite the apparently greater ease of water access to the interior of hCYB5B than of rCYB5B suggested by these observations, the two proteins exhibit virtually identical stability, dynamic and redox properties. The results provide new insight into the factors stabilizing the cytochrome b5 fold