Tissue-specific and subcellular localization of phototropin determined by immuno-blotting

Phototropin (phot) is a UV/blue- light receptor mediating phototropic reactions of plants as a response to unilateral irradiation. Using an antiserum directed against the N-terminal part of Arabidopsis phot1, we show here cross-reaction with phototropin from Avena sativa, Eruca sativa, Glycine max, Lepidium sativum, Lycopersicon esculentum, Pisum sativum, Sinapis alba, and Zea mays. In all investigated plants, blue light irradiation led to a gel mobility shift of phototropin corresponding to an apparent increase in size of 2–3 kDa. This increase is transient: the apparent size of the phototropin band reverted back to the original size in the dark within 60–90 min. The capacity for in vitro phosphorylation increased to 350% (A. sativa) and 200% (L. sativum) at 90 min after a blue light pulse without an increase in the amount of phototropin protein. Starting from coleoptile tips of monocots that contained the highest concentration of phototropin, we found an exponential decrease in basipetal sections of equal size while a linear decrease was determined for dicots in basipetal sections starting from the section below the hypocotyl hook. We confirmed the membrane association of all phototropin in dark-grown seedlings; after a 2-min blue light pulse, however, 20% of phototropin was found in the cytosolic fraction and only 80% in the membrane fraction. Both fractions showed the gel mobility shift indicating light-dependent autophosphorylation. Detergent-free solubilization of phototropin with chaotropic reagents was investigated with etiolated A. sativa seedlings. Up to 95% of phototropin was solubilized with a mixture of sodium bromide and sodium diphosphate, and subsequently subjected to affinity purification using Cibachron Blue 3GA–agarose as a dinucleotide analogue. Immediately after solubilization, soluble phototropin still showed blue-light-dependent autophosphorylation but lost its activity within less than 1 h.Abbreviations GFP Green fluorescent protein - phot Phototropin     

Inheritance and subcellular localization of triose-phosphate isomerase in dwarf mountain pine (Pinus mugo).

Several trees with expected heterozygous phenotype for triose-phosphate isomerase (TPI) were discovered in a population of dwarf mountain pine (Pinus mugo Turra) from southern Poland. As the inheritance of this enzyme in pines has not been reported, segregation of allelic variants was tested in eight trees with putative heterozygous phenotypes for two loci, TpiA and TPIB: Linkage between these and some other isozyme loci were studied and evidence for linkage has been found between TpiA and PgdA (r = 0.10) and between TpiB and DiaD (r = 0.36), but in single trees only. The subcellular localization of TPI isozymes was determined by comparing isoenzymes from the total extract with those found in fraction enriched in plastids, prepared by differential gradient centrifugation of cellular organelles. The more slowly migrating TPI-B isozyme is located in plastids.     

Expression of chalcone synthase and chalcone isomerase proteins in Arabidopsis seedlings

Antibodies have been developed against the first two enzymes of flavonoid biosynthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. Chalcone synthase (CHS) and chalcone isomerase (CHI) were overexpressed and purified from Escherichia coli as fusion proteins with glutathione S-transferase from Schistosoma japonicum. The recombinant proteins were then used to immunize chickens and the resulting IgY fraction was purified from egg yolks. Immunoblots of crude protein extracts from Arabidopsis seedlings carrying wild-type and null alleles for CHS and CHI showed that the resulting antibody preparations provide useful tools for characterizing expression of the flavonoid pathway at the protein level. An initial analysis of expression patterns in seedlings shows that CHS and CHI proteins are present at high levels during a brief period of early seedling germination that just precedes the transient accumulation of flavonoid end-products.     

Cloning and analyzing of chalcone isomerase gene (AaCHI) from Artemisia annua

Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) - Artemisinin, isolated from Chinese medical herbal plant Artemisia annua L., was reported to be the main compound of anti-malaria drugs. However, the...     

Characterization and expression analysis of chalcone synthase and chalcone isomerase genes in Phyllanthus emblica (L.)

Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology - The two decisive enzymes in flavonoid biosynthetic pathway are chalcone synthase (CHS) and chalcone isomerase (CHI), wherein the former carries the...     

Mechanism of action of chalcone isomerase

The pH profile of the rate of isomerization of 4,2′,4′-trihydroxychalcone catalyzed by chalcone isomerase shows dependence on the basic form of a group with a pK of 7.25. The same pH dependence is seen for the reverse reaction. Enzyme activity is lost in the presence of diethylpyrocarbonate at pH 6.0. In the presence of 20% formamide in imidazole buffers, the pK for the forward reaction is modified by a second pK of 7.1. This behavior represents a perturbed pK of a neutral acid group and is attributable to the 2′ hydroxyl of the chalcone substrate. These results suggest a mechanism of enzyme action involving nucleophilic addition of an imidazole group in the active site to the double bond followed by nucleophilic attack by the 2′ phenolate group, resulting in ring closure with inversion of configuration at C-2.     

Stereoselectivity of chalcone isomerase with chalcone derivatives: a computational study

Chalcone isomerase (CHI) catalyzes the intramolecular cyclization of chalcones into flavonoids. The activity of CHI is essential for the biosynthesis of flavonoids precursors of floral pigments and phenylpropanoid plant defense compounds. In the present study, we explored the detailed binding structures and binding free energies for two different active site conformations of CHI with s-cis/s-trans conformers of three chalcone compounds by performing molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and binding free energy calculations. The computational results indicate that s-cis/s-trans conformers of chalcone compounds are orientated in the similar binding position in the active site of CHI and stabilized by the different first hydrogen bond network and the same second hydrogen bond network. The first hydrogen bond network results in much lower binding affinity of s-trans conformer of chalcone compound with CHI than that of s-cis conformer. The conformational change of the active site residue T48 from indirectly interacting with the substrate via the second hydrogen bond network to directly forming the hydrogen bond with the substrates cannot affect the binding mode of both conformers of chalcone compounds, but remarkably improves the binding affinity. These results show that CHI has a strong stereoselectivity. The calculated binding free energies for three chalcone compounds with CHI are consistent with the experimental activity data. In addition, several valuable insights are suggested for future rational design and discovery of high-efficiency mutants of CHI.

霞多丽苗木中镉的积累、亚细胞分布及化学存在形态

以一年生盆栽葡萄品种霞多丽(Vitis vinifera L.cv.Chardonnay)自根苗及SO4砧嫁接苗为试材,采用CdCl2和CaCl2根部灌入的方法,研究了镉在霞多丽植株内的亚细胞分布和存在形态,以及外源添加氯化钙对植株镉吸收的影响.结果表明:大部分镉积累在霞多丽自根苗及嫁接苗的地下部器官;4 mmol·L-1浓度的CdCl2处理下,镉在自根苗根及根颈部分的积累量占77.1％,在叶片中的积累量占1.4％,而嫁接苗中镉在嫁接口以下部分的积累量高达93.9％,叶片中的积累量仅占0.1％;5 mmol·L-1外源钙缓解了植株对镉的吸收积累,而10mmol ·L-1外源钙则显著增加了植株对镉的吸收积累.镉在根系和叶片中的亚细胞分布规律为细胞壁＞可溶性部分＞细胞器,且在细胞壁中积累50％以上;镉在根系中主要以氯化钠提取态存在,其次为乙酸提取态,去离子水提取态含量最少.随着镉处理浓度的增加,各提取态含量有所变化.     

Purification and characterization of chalcone isomerase from soybeans

Chalcone isomerase from soybean has been purified 11,000-fold over the crude extract. The purification procedure features pseudo-affinity chromatography on an Amicon Matrex Orange A column with selective elution by a product of the enzymatic reaction. The purified enzyme is greater than 99.5% pure and possesses a specificity activity of 340 IU/mg, which is 520-fold greater than previously reported. The apparent molecular weight of the chalcone isomerase is 24,000 as determined from sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels and from size exclusion chromatography under native conditions on Sephacryl S-200. The enzyme exists as a monomer that migrates on isoelectric focusing gels with a pI of 5.7. Amino acid analysis indicates that almost 50% of the residues are hydrophobic and yields a partial specific volume of 0.750 ml/g. Chalcone isomerase contains no carbohydrate moieties and has a blocked N terminus. The purified enzyme catalyzes the conversion of 2', 4',4-trihydroxychalcone (I) to (2S)-4',7-dihydroxyflavanone (II) at pH 7.6 with a second order rate constant, kcat/Km, of 1.1 X 10(9) M-1 min-1 and an apparent equilibrium constant, [II]/[I], of 7.6. The rate constant for the conversion of enzyme-bound substrate to the (2S)-flavanone, kcat = 11,000 min-1, exceeds the spontaneous conversion by 36 million-fold. The enzyme catalyzes the formation of (2S)-flavanone over 100,000-fold faster than to the (2R)-flavanone, indicating that the enzyme is highly stereoselective, yielding over 99.999% of the (2S)-flavanone.     

Tissue-specific expression and subcellular localisation of mammalian delta-tubulin

The properties of the microtubule network are regulated at various levels including tissue-dependent isotype switching, post-translational modification of alpha- and beta-tubulin, and by a variety of microtubule-associated molecules (for reviews, see [1-3]). Microtubule nucleation is attributed to gamma-tubulin, which is present in protein complexes at the centrosome and in the cytoplasm [4,5]. A screen for flagellar mutants in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has led to the identification of a fourth member of the tubulin gene superfamily, delta-tubulin. In this unicellular organism, the lack of a functional delta-tubulin gene copy causes aberrant numbers of flagella, depending on the age of the corresponding basal bodies; mutants also show abnormal ultrastructure of the basal bodies and a misplacement of the cleavage furrow at mitosis [6]. Here, we report the isolation of the mouse delta-tubulin homologue and show that the gene is highly expressed in testis. In the elongating spermatid, delta-tubulin associated with the manchette, a specialised microtubule system present during reshaping of the sperm head. The protein specifically localised at the perinuclear ring of the manchette, at the centriolar vaults and along the principal piece of the sperm flagellum. In somatic cell lines, unlike most other tubulins, mammalian delta-tubulin was both cytoplasmic and nuclear and did not colocalise with microtubules. The protein was enriched at the spindle poles during mitosis and we found that gamma-tubulin coimmunoprecipitated with delta-tubulin. Together, the data indicate a specialised role for mammalian delta-tubulin that is distinct from other known tubulins.     

Resveratrol accumulation in grapevine infected with grapevine vein necrosis disease

Trans-resveratrol (4,3’,5’-trishydroxystilbene) was identified in grapevine leaves with vein necrosis disease symptoms. The compound accumulates from 10 to 60 μg⁻¹ (fresh mass) in infected leaves.     

Introduction of unnatural amino acids into chalcone isomerase.

The active site cysteine residue of chalcone isomerase was rapidly and selectively modified under denaturing conditions with a variety of electrophilic reagents. These denatured and modified enzyme were renatured to produce enzyme derivatives containing a series of unnatural amino acids in the active site. Addition of methyl, ethyl, butyl, heptyl, and benzyl groups to the cysteine sulfur does not abolish catalytic activity, although the activity decreases as the steric bulk of the amino acid side-chain increases. Modification of the cysteine to introduce a charged homoglutamate or a neutral homoglutamine analogue results in retention of 22% of the catalytic activity. Addition of a methylthio group (SMe) to the cysteine residue of native chalcone isomerase preserves 85% of the catalytic activity measured with 2',4',4-trihydroxychalcone, 2',4',6',4-tetrahydroxychalcone, or 2'-hydroxy-4-methoxychalcone as substrates. The competitive inhibition constant for 4',4-dihydroxychalcone, the substrate inhibition constant for 2',4',4-trihydroxychalcone, and other steady-state kinetic parameters for the methanethiolated enzyme are very similar to those of the native enzyme. The strong binding of 4',4-dihydroxychalcone to the methanethiolated enzyme shows that there is no steric repulsion between this modified amino acid residue and the substrate analogue. This structure-activity study clearly demonstrates that the active site cysteine residue does not function as an acid-base or nucleophilic group in producing the catalysis or substrate inhibition observed with chalcone isomerase. The method presented in this paper allows for the rapid introduction of a series of unnatural amino acids into the active site as a means of probing the structure-function relationship.