二酰基甘油酰转移酶与肥胖研究新进展

甘油三酯(TG)是真核细胞中最重要的能量储存形式,尽管它是正常生理所必需,但过量堆积,就会导致肥胖.因此抑制TG的合成可能改善肥胖以及与之相关的症状.脂酰辅酶A:二酰基甘油酰转移酶(DGAT)是以甘油二酯和脂酰辅酶A为底物,催化甘油三酯合成途径的最后一步反应的关键酶.DGAT1基因敲除(Dgat1-/-)小鼠对肥胖有抵抗力,并且增加了对胰岛素和瘦素的敏感性,这种小鼠对饮食诱导的脂肪肝也有抵抗力.此外,DGAT1的缺乏影响脂肪源性因子的表达和分泌,从而调节能量和葡萄糖的代谢.这些研究提示DGAT1有望成为治疗肥胖和2-型糖尿病的新靶点.     

Functional Analysis of Sesame Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase and Phospholipid: Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase Genes Using In Silico and In Vitro Approaches

Plant Molecular Biology Reporter - Sesamum indicum L. is one of the major oilseed crops of India. Sesame oil is stable with a good source of unsaturated fatty acids. To know the mechanism of oil...     

花生二酰基甘油酰基转移酶基因克隆与功能研究

利用RT-PCR方法,从花生品种‘鲁花14’未成熟种子中克隆了二酰基甘油酰基转移酶(Diacylglycerolacyltransferase,DGAT)基因AhDGAT3A和AhDGAT3B的cDNA,序列分析显示,两者在编码区核苷酸序列有96%相似性,氨基酸序列有94%相似,并对其中的AhDGAT3A进一步研究。(1)半定量RT-PCR分析显示,AhDGAT3A在花生根、茎、叶、花和种子中均有表达,且花中表达量最高,茎中表达量非常低;在花生果针入土60d时种子中的表达量较其它发育时期有所提高。(2)利用染色体步移技术克隆了AhDGAT3A5′上游1 588bp调控区,在线软件分析发现该调控区除包括启动子核心元件外,还包含多个调控花粉中表达的顺式元件、光信号调控元件和胁迫相关元件等。(3)在烟草中过量表达AhDGAT3A基因,转基因烟草种子粗脂肪和主要脂肪酸含量较对照均有所下降,推测这一结果可能由转基因共抑制作用导致。     

Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase in Microsomes and Oil Bodies of Oil Palm Mesocarp

Specific acyltransferase activities were detected in microsomesand oil bodies from palm mesocarp in the presence of exogenouslysophosphatidic acid, diacylglycerol and glycerol-3-phosphate.These activities were 2–3 times higher per mg proteinin oil bodies than in microsomes. Diacylglycerol acyltransferasein both preparations required Mg²⁺, dithiothreitol, gelatineand fat free bovine serum albumin for maximum activity at pH8.5. The enzyme had an apparent Km of 0.18 mM for dipalmitin.In both preparations, the enzyme was active with myristoyl-CoA,palmitoyl-CoA, stearoyl-CoA and oleoyl-CoA. When presented witha mixture of two acyl- CoAs, microsomal enzyme showed no selectivitybut oil body enzyme had a preference for oleoyl-CoA over palmitoyl-CoA. (Received October 11, 1991; Accepted December 27, 1991)     

Overexpression of Peanut Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase 2 in Escherichia coli

Diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) is the rate-limiting enzyme in triacylglycerol biosynthesis in eukaryotic organisms. Triacylglycerols are important energy-storage oils in plants such as peanuts, soybeans and rape. In this study, Arachis hypogaea type 2 DGAT (AhDGAT2) genes were cloned from the peanut cultivar ‘Luhua 14’ using a homologous gene sequence method and rapid amplification of cDNA ends. To understand the role of AhDGAT2 in triacylglycerol biosynthesis, two AhDGAT2 nucleotide sequences that differed by three amino acids were expressed as glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion proteins in Escherichia coli Rosetta (DE3). Following IPTG induction, the isozymes (AhDGAT2a and AhDGAT2b) were expressed as 64.5 kDa GST fusion proteins. Both AhDGAT2a and AhDGAT2b occurred in the host cell cytoplasm and inclusion bodies, with larger amounts in the inclusion bodies. Overexpression of AhDGATs depressed the host cell growth rates relative to non-transformed cells, but cells harboring empty-vector, AhDGAT2a–GST, or AhDGAT2b–GST exhibited no obvious growth rate differences. Interestingly, induction of AhDGAT2a–GST and AhDGAT2b–GST proteins increased the sizes of the host cells by 2.4–2.5 times that of the controls (post-IPTG induction). The total fatty acid (FA) levels of the AhDGAT2a–GST and AhDGAT2a–GST transformants, as well as levels of C12:0, C14:0, C16:0, C16:1, C18:1n9c and C18:3n3 FAs, increased markedly, whereas C15:0 and C21:0 levels were lower than in non-transformed cells or those containing empty-vectors. In addition, the levels of some FAs differed between the two transformant strains, indicating that the two isozymes might have different functions in peanuts. This is the first time that a full-length recombinant peanut DGAT2 has been produced in a bacterial expression system and the first analysis of its effects on the content and composition of fatty acids in E. coli. Our results indicate that AhDGAT2 is a strong candidate gene for efficient FA production in E. coli.     

In Vivo and in Vitro Evidence for Biochemical Coupling of Reactions Catalyzed by Lysophosphatidylcholine Acyltransferase and Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase

Seed oils of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) and many other plant species contain substantial amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Phosphatidylcholine (PC) is the major site for PUFA synthesis. The exact mechanisms of how these PUFAs are channeled from PC into triacylglycerol (TAG) needs to be further explored. By using in vivo and in vitro approaches, we demonstrated that the PC deacylation reaction catalyzed by the reverse action of acyl-CoA:lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase (LPCAT) can transfer PUFAs on PC directly into the acyl-CoA pool, making these PUFAs available for the diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT)-catalyzed reaction for TAG production. Two types of yeast mutants were generated for in vivo and in vitro experiments, respectively. Both mutants provide a null background with no endogenous TAG forming capacity and an extremely low LPCAT activity. In vivo experiments showed that co-expressing flax DGAT1-1 and LPCAT1 in the yeast quintuple mutant significantly increased 18-carbon PUFAs in TAG with a concomitant decrease of 18-carbon PUFAs in phospholipid. We further showed that after incubation of sn-2-[¹⁴C]acyl-PC, formation of [¹⁴C]TAG was only possible with yeast microsomes containing both LPCAT1 and DGAT1-1. Moreover, the specific activity of overall LPCAT1 and DGAT1-1 coupling process exhibited a preference for transferring ¹⁴C-labeled linoleoyl or linolenoyl than oleoyl moieties from the sn-2 position of PC to TAG. Together, our data support the hypothesis of biochemical coupling of the LPCAT1-catalyzed reverse reaction with the DGAT1-1-catalyzed reaction for incorporating PUFAs into TAG. This process represents a potential route for enriching TAG in PUFA content during seed development in flax.     

Developmental Regulation of Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase Family Gene Expression in Tung Tree Tissues

Diacylglycerol acyltransferases (DGAT) catalyze the final and rate-limiting step of triacylglycerol (TAG) biosynthesis in eukaryotic organisms. DGAT genes have been identified in numerous organisms. Multiple isoforms of DGAT are present in eukaryotes. We previously cloned DGAT1 and DGAT2 genes of tung tree (Vernicia fordii), whose novel seed TAGs are useful in a wide range of industrial applications. The objective of this study was to understand the developmental regulation of DGAT family gene expression in tung tree. To this end, we first cloned a tung tree gene encoding DGAT3, a putatively soluble form of DGAT that possesses 11 completely conserved amino acid residues shared among 27 DGAT3s from 19 plant species. Unlike DGAT1 and DGAT2 subfamilies, DGAT3 is absent from animals. We then used TaqMan and SYBR Green quantitative real-time PCR, along with northern and western blotting, to study the expression patterns of the three DGAT genes in tung tree tissues. Expression results demonstrate that 1) all three isoforms of DGAT genes are expressed in developing seeds, leaves and flowers; 2) DGAT2 is the major DGAT mRNA in tung seeds, whose expression profile is well-coordinated with the oil profile in developing tung seeds; and 3) DGAT3 is the major form of DGAT mRNA in tung leaves, flowers and immature seeds prior to active tung oil biosynthesis. These results suggest that DGAT2 is probably the major TAG biosynthetic isoform in tung seeds and that DGAT3 gene likely plays a significant role in TAG metabolism in other tissues. Therefore, DGAT2 should be a primary target for tung oil engineering in transgenic organisms.     

烟草二脂酰甘油酰基转移酶基因(NtDGAT2)的克隆与功能分析

二脂酰甘油酰基转移酶(diacylglycerol acyltransferase,DGAT2)是植物储存油脂生物合成过程中的关键酶,对种子储存油脂累积具有重要的生理作用。本文采用电子克隆与实验相结合的方法,从烟草种子cDNA中克隆到DGAT2基因的开放阅读框序列,命名为NtDGAT2(GenBank登录号JX843807),其序列长999bp,编码332个氨基酸。多序列比对和进化分析表明该基因编码蛋白与其他植物DGAT2具有较高相似性和典型的DGAT2结构域。利用Real-time PCR定量表达分析显示Nt-DGAT2在烟草种子、花、茎、叶和根里面都有表达,且在发育中的种子和花的发育过程大量表达。酵母互补实验证实该基因编码蛋白具有DGAT酶活性。     

两种缘毛类纤毛虫胞质Hsp70基因序列的克隆及其系统发育分析

克隆得到2种缘毛类纤毛虫——钟形钟虫(Vorticella campanula)和螅状独缩虫(Carchesium polypinum)的胞质Hsp70基因部分序列,长度均为438bp,编码146个氨基酸。以细菌为外类群,利用最大似然法和邻接法构建包括其他5种纤毛虫在内的共26个物种的Hsp70基因氨基酸序列系统发育树,其拓扑结构显示：V．campanula和C．polypinum聚在一起,并与另2种寡膜纲的嗜热四膜虫(Tetrahymena thermophila)及草履虫(Paramecium tetraurelia)聚为姊妹枝,提示了缘毛类纤毛虫为单系,且隶属于寡膜纲的系统发育地位。     

Effects of Monogalactoglycerolipid Deficiency and Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase Overexpression on Oil Accumulation in Transgenic Tobacco

Engineering accumulation of triacylglycerol (TAG) in vegetative tissues has been recently proposed as a promising strategy for increasing plant oil production. However, little is known about regulatory mechanisms involved in increasing oil production in plant vegetative tissues. In this study, expression of NtMGD1 encoding a major biosynthetic enzyme for the chloroplast membrane lipid was inhibited by RNAi interference in tobacco. Furthermore, AtDGAT1, a rate-regulating gene involved in TAG biosynthesis, was ectopically overexpressed. Results showed that leaf TAG accumulations were significantly increased both by NtMGD1 RNAi and AtDGAT1 overexpression. However, combination of AtDGAT1 overexpression with NtMGD1 RNAi did not result in additive increase in TAG accumulation in leaves than AtDGAT1 overexpression or NtMGD1 RNAi alone. In addition, reduction of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) biosynthesis by NtMGD1 RNAi was relieved by AtDGAT1 overexpression. Expression of lipid transfer protein (LTP) was upregulated both by AtDGAT1 overexpression and NtMGD1 RNAi and correlated with increased oil accumulation in leaves. Our results indicated that fatty acids deesterified from chloroplast membrane galactolipids could be redirected into TAG. TAG is an energy-dense molecule that might act as a storage pool for carbohydrate. This membrane lipid remodeling may represent an adaptive response that enables plant cells to avoid toxic effects of free fatty acids.     

Modeling Structure-Function Relationships in Synthetic DNA Sequences using Attribute Grammars

Recognizing that certain biological functions can be associated with specific DNA sequences has led various fields of biology to adopt the notion of the genetic part. This concept provides a finer level of granularity than the traditional notion of the gene. However, a method of formally relating how a set of parts relates to a function has not yet emerged. Synthetic biology both demands such a formalism and provides an ideal setting for testing hypotheses about relationships between DNA sequences and phenotypes beyond the gene-centric methods used in genetics. Attribute grammars are used in computer science to translate the text of a program source code into the computational operations it represents. By associating attributes with parts, modifying the value of these attributes using rules that describe the structure of DNA sequences, and using a multi-pass compilation process, it is possible to translate DNA sequences into molecular interaction network models. These capabilities are illustrated by simple example grammars expressing how gene expression rates are dependent upon single or multiple parts. The translation process is validated by systematically generating, translating, and simulating the phenotype of all the sequences in the design space generated by a small library of genetic parts. Attribute grammars represent a flexible framework connecting parts with models of biological function. They will be instrumental for building mathematical models of libraries of genetic constructs synthesized to characterize the function of genetic parts. This formalism is also expected to provide a solid foundation for the development of computer assisted design applications for synthetic biology.     

Structure-Function Analysis of IntDOT

CTnDOT integrase (IntDOT) is a member of the tyrosine family of site-specific DNA recombinases. IntDOT is unusual in that it catalyzes recombination between nonidentical sequences. Previous mutational analyses centered on mutants with substitutions of conserved residues in the catalytic (CAT) domain or residues predicted by homology modeling to be close to DNA in the core-binding (CB) domain. That work suggested that a conserved active-site residue (Arg I) of the CAT domain is missing and that some residues in the CB domain are involved in catalysis. Here we used a genetic approach and constructed an Escherichia coli indicator strain to screen for random mutations in IntDOT that disrupt integrative recombination in vivo. Twenty-five IntDOT mutants were isolated and characterized for DNA binding, DNA cleavage, and DNA ligation activities. We found that mutants with substitutions in the amino-terminal (N) domain were catalytically active but defective in forming nucleoprotein complexes, suggesting that they have altered protein-protein interactions or altered interactions with DNA. Replacement of Ala-352 of the CAT domain disrupted DNA cleavage but not DNA ligation, suggesting that Ala-352 may be important for positioning the catalytic tyrosine (Tyr-381) during cleavage. Interestingly, our biochemical data and homology modeling of the CAT domain suggest that Arg-285 is the missing Arg I residue of IntDOT. The predicted position of Arg-285 shows it entering the active site from a position on the polypeptide backbone that is not utilized in other tyrosine recombinases. IntDOT may therefore employ a novel active-site architecture to catalyze recombination.Conjugative transposons (CTns) are mobile DNA segments that use conjugation and site-specific recombination to transfer a copy of their DNA from a donor to a recipient strain. CTnDOT was originally discovered in a strain of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron that was capable of transferring resistance to tetracycline and erythromycin (4, 35). Upon exposure to tetracycline, CTnDOT excises from the donor chromosome, copies its DNA by rolling-circle replication, and transfers its DNA to the recipient cell, where it circularizes and is integrated into the recipient chromosome by site-specific recombination. In the past 30 years, the frequency of tetracycline-resistant Bacteroides isolates has risen dramatically, to around 80% of isolates (35). Much of the spread of tetracycline resistance is due to the conjugative transposon CTnDOT and its close relatives (37).Previous work has shown that the integration and excision reactions require the CTnDOT-encoded integrase (IntDOT) and an uncharacterized Bacteroides host factor (8, 9, 30, 39). Analysis of the IntDOT amino acid sequence indicated that it was a member of the tyrosine recombinase family. It contains five of the six signature residues required for catalysis of the tyrosine recombination reactions (8, 30, 33). We previously constructed and characterized mutants containing alanine substitutions of residues in the catalytic (CAT) domain that are conserved among tyrosine recombinases. The results supported the inclusion of IntDOT within the tyrosine family of recombinases. However, the catalytic core seemed to have an organization somewhat different from those of other tyrosine recombinases (30). In addition, we used a homology modeling method to identify residues in the core-binding (CB) domain that are predicted to be near the DNA (29). The results of alanine substitutions of several residues indicated that some residues in the CB domain are likely involved in catalysis.The information-directed mutagenesis approaches that we used previously with IntDOT are useful for producing amino acid substitutions at positions predicted to be important for protein function on the basis of methods such as sequence analysis or homology modeling. Because IntDOT has an arm-binding (N) domain in the N terminus of the protein about which relatively little is known, and because the CAT domain appeared to have an unusual structure not found in other family members, the in vitro approach is limited in its ability to produce useful substitution mutations affecting the functions of these domains. In order to complement our earlier work, we chose to use a structure-function approach similar to one used previously with λ Int (21). The strategy we used was to isolate substitution mutants of IntDOT generated by random mutagenesis using an in vivo screen for recombination activity. This approach produced amino acid substitutions in all three of the domains of IntDOT. Analysis of the mutants has uncovered novel amino acid substitutions that cause defects in different steps in the recombination pathway, such as DNA binding, DNA cleavage, and DNA ligation.     

蒺藜苜蓿DGAT1基因的克隆和功能鉴定

该研究采用RT-PCR与电子克隆的方法,从蒺藜苜蓿cDNA中克隆得到2个编码二脂酰甘油酰基转移酶(diacylglycerol acyltransferase,DGAT)的基因MtDGAT1-1和MtDGAT1-2。MtDGAT1-1长1 620bp,编码539个氨基酸;MtDGAT1-2长1 524bp,编码507个氨基酸。多序列比对显示,MtDGAT1-1和MtDGAT1-2编码蛋白具有典型的植物DGAT1结构域。表达分析显示,MtDGAT1-1和MtDGAT1-2在根、茎、叶、花、种子中都有表达,在种子发育中高表达,且MtDGAT1-1于种子发育的中前期高表达,而MtDGAT1-2于种子发育的中后期高表达。酵母互补实验证实,MtDGAT1-2编码蛋白具有DGAT酶活性,能够恢复H1246的TAG合成和油体形成;而MtDGAT1-1编码蛋白不能恢复H1246的TAG合成和油体形成。     

Unveiling the Organisms behind Novel Eukaryotic Ribosomal DNA Sequences from the Ocean

Despite the fact that the smallest eukaryotes (cells less than 5 μm in diameter) play key roles in marine food webs, particularly in open oligotrophic areas, the study of their in situ diversity started just one year ago. Perhaps the most remarkable finding of the most recent studies has been the discovery of completely new phylogenetic lineages, such as novel clades belonging to the stramenopile and alveolate phyla. The two new groups account for a significant fraction of clones in genetic libraries from North Atlantic, equatorial Pacific, Antarctic, and Mediterranean Sea waters. However, the identities and ecological relevance of these organisms remain unknown. Here we investigate the phylogenetic relationships, morphology, in situ abundance, and ecological role of novel stramenopiles. They form at least eight independent clades within the stramenopile basal branches, indicating a large phylogenetic diversity within the group. Two lineages were visualized and enumerated in field samples and enrichments by fluorescent in situ hybridization using specific rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes. The targeted organisms were 2- to 3-μm-diameter, round-shaped, nonpigmented flagellates. Further, they were found to be bacterivorous. One lineage accounted for up to 46% (average during an annual cycle, 19%) of heterotrophic flagellates in a coastal environment, providing evidence that novel stramenopiles are important and unrecognized components of the total stock of bacterial grazers.