萜类合成酶定向进化的新思路

萜类化合物是天然产物中种类最多且主要存在于植物和微生物体内的一类化合物。随着越来越多具有应用价值的萜类化合物被挖掘,其应用前景引起了人们的关注,但由于含量低、提取成本高等缺点,因此制约了萜类化合物的广泛应用。合成生物学的兴起,为异源合成具有应用价值的萜类化合物提供了新思路,使构建定向、高效的微生物细胞工厂成为现实。萜类合成酶常作为萜类化合物异源合成代谢调控的靶酶,但天然的萜类合成酶存在催化效率低、底物专一性差、立体/区域选择性差、稳定性差等问题,严重影响萜类化合物的产量。萜类合成酶的定向进化可以有效地解决上述问题,为实现微生物细胞工厂异源、高效合成萜类化合物奠定基础。本文综述了近年来酶的定向进化技术的最新进展及应用,并提出了萜类合成酶定向进化的策略。     

植物法呢基焦磷酸合成酶的生物信息学分析

采用生物信息学的方法和工具对已在GenBank上注册的番茄(Lycopersicon esculentum)、橡胶(Hevea brasiliensis)、香蕉(Musa acuminata)、苹果(Malus×domestica)、向日葵(Helianthus annuus)、葡萄(Vitis vinifera)等的法呢基焦磷酸合成酶的核苷酸及氨基酸序列进行分析,并对其组成成分、转运肽、跨膜拓朴结构域、疏水性/亲水性、蛋白质二级及三级结构、分子系统进化关系等进行预测和推断。结果表明:该酶基因的全长包括5’、3’非翻译区和一个开放阅读框;其编码的蛋白是一个无跨膜结构域、不具转运肽的亲水性蛋白,包括5个保守的结构motif,其中两个是富含天冬氨酸(Asp)的motif,α-螺旋和不规则盘绕是蛋白质二级结构最大量的结构元件,β-转角和延伸链散布于整个蛋白质中,蛋白质的功能域在空间布局上是由α-螺旋围绕形成的中间具一个“大空穴”的立体结构,“大空穴”的表面藏有五个功能保守motif,其中两个Asp-motif位于“空穴”的内壁。     

茉莉花萜类合成酶基因的转录组鉴定及响应外源激素的表达研究

探究萜类合成酶(Terpenoid synthase,TPS)在茉莉花萜类化合物合成中的作用及外源激素处理下的表达模式,为深入研究茉莉花TPS基因家族的功能及在外源激素胁迫中的作用奠定理论依据.以茉莉花转录组数据为基础,利用生物信息学方法对茉莉花TPS家族进行鉴定及分析,采用实时荧光定量分析茉莉花TPS家族在茉莉花不同...     

高通量技术在萜类合成酶筛选中的应用

萜类化合物种类繁多,生物活性多样,在食品、药品与化妆品等行业中具有广泛的应用。萜类化合物多来源于植物,然而随着合成生物学的快速发展,相较于传统的天然植物提取与化学合成方法,利用工程微生物进行萜类化合物异源合成的方法显得更为经济与环保。萜类合成酶的催化活性及合成产物的结构特性是萜类化合物异源合成的关键。通过蛋白定向进化与理性设计可以有针对性地优化萜类合成酶的催化性能及产物专一性,但该方案需要一个特异的筛选方法来实现蛋白突变体库的高通量筛选。近年来,一系列高通量筛选方法的建立使得萜类合成酶的筛选变得更加灵敏与高效。本文对近期建立的萜类合成酶高通量筛选方法进行了综述,简要概述了各种筛选方法的基本原理与优缺点,并对高通量筛选技术在萜类合成酶改造中的应用做出了展望。     

植物水溶性蔗糖合成酶生物信息学分析初探

用生物信息学方法对已在GenBank上注册的黑麦草、绿竹、菜豆、马铃薯、颤杨等植物水溶性蔗糖合成酶基因的核苷酸序列以及推导的氨基酸序列、组成成分、氨基酸翻译后修饰、导肽、跨膜拓朴结构域、疏水性／亲水性、蛋白质二级结构以及功能结构域等进行分析预测和推断的结果表明,这些植物的水溶性蔗糖合成酶位于线粒体中,是非跨膜的亲水性蛋白,α-螺旋和不规则卷曲是其蛋白质二级结构的主要结构元件,β-转角和延伸链散布于整个蛋白质中,包含2个功能结构域,即蔗糖合成功能域和糖基化合物转移功能域。     

毛竹萜类合成酶基因家族序列鉴定与表达分析

通过生物信息学方法,对毛竹(Phyllostachys edulis(Carrière)J.Houzeau)TPS基因家族的成员进行鉴定,并对其编码蛋白的理化性质、基因结构、进化关系、蛋白结构、启动子元件及表达模式进行了分析。结果表明,毛竹全基因组含有14个TPS候选基因,大小为693~2439 bp。编码蛋白等电点为5.08~8.17。系统发育分析结果显示,毛竹含有TPS-a、TPS-b、TPS-e/f、和TPS-g 4个亚家族,成员数目分别为6、5、2、1个。TPS蛋白质二级结构中,α-螺旋和无规则卷曲所占比重较大;毛竹TPS基因家族各成员蛋白三维结构比较相似。基因启动子分析共获得50个调控元件,可分为6大类,其中光响应相关元件数量最多,共包含17个顺式调控元件。基于转录组测序数据构建的基因表达谱热图分析结果表明,Pe TPS在叶、花和笋等7个组织中的表达差异明显,表现出组织特异性,其中Pe TPS9仅在早花期花序中表达,Pe TPS8仅在叶中表达。     

植物蔗糖磷酸合成酶的生物信息学分析

本文采用生物信息学的方法对已在GenBank上注册的拟南芥、紫苜蓿、黑麦草、绿竹、文心兰等植物的蔗糖磷酸合成酶基因的核苷酸序列以及推导的氨基酸序列、组成成分、导肽、跨膜拓朴结构、疏水性／亲水性、蛋白质二级结构及功能域等进行分析预测和推断。结果表明：这些植物的蔗糖磷酸合成酶不存在导肽,为位于细胞质中非跨膜的亲水性不稳定蛋白,α-螺旋和不规则卷曲是其蛋白质二级结构的主要结构元件,β-转角和延伸链散布于整个蛋白质中,包含三个功能结构域。     

细菌基因组序列中ε-聚赖氨酸合成酶的生物信息学识别与分析

【目的】ε-聚赖氨酸的合成由ε-聚赖氨酸合成酶(Pls)所控制,考察Pls在细菌中的分布和保守的序列特征。【方法】基于Pls的作用机制,在蛋白序列中识别与底物结合和缩合相关的结构域,以及决定底物特异性的氨基酸残基,进而在已测序基因组中预测Pls。【结果】发现110个已测序的基因组中编码113个预测的Pls,主要分布在放线菌中,也在两株革兰氏阴性菌中被发现。一些亲缘性较高菌株的Pls一致性较高。【结论】Pls在放线菌中可能广泛分布。Pls的腺苷化、巯基化和底物缩合结构域有相对较高的序列保守性,而跨膜结构域和Linker区相对不保守。     

不同烟草中谷氨酰胺合成酶2基因的生物信息学分析

目的：分析不同烟草中谷氨酰胺合成酶2（GS2）基因的结构特点、差异与进化的关系。方法：对NCBI已公布的皱叶烟草（Np）、渐狭叶烟草（Na）和美花烟草（Ns）及拟南芥（At）、籼稻（Os）的GS2序列,利用MEGA进行聚类分析,用ProtParam、NETPHOS 2.0 Server、TargetP1.1Server、ProtScale、Scansite和SOPMA进行肽链的理化性质、磷酸化修饰、亲水性/疏水性、前导肽、motif和二级结构的预测分析。结果：Na、Ns的GS2在磷酸化位点、二级结构和前导肽方面与At和Os的GS2非常相似;Np的GS2不具有前导肽和磷酸化位点,且不定位于叶绿体中。结论：Na和Ns的GS2具有较高的相似度,但Np的GS2与Na和Ns的差别较大,与GS1的亲缘关系更近。     

In silico analysis of squalene synthase in Fabaceae family using bioinformatics tools

Triterpenoid saponins are a diverse group of bioactive compounds, which are used for possessing of many biomedical and pharmaceutical products. Generally, squalene synthase (SQS) is defined as an emerging and essential branch point enzyme far from the major pathway of isoprenoids biosynthetic and a latent adjusting point, which manages carbon flux into triterpenes biosynthesis and sterols. The present study deals with the detailed characterization of SQS by bioinformatics approaches to evaluate physicochemical properties, structural characteristics including secondary and 3D structure prediction and functional analysis from eight plants related to Fabaceae family and Arabidopsis thaliana. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that SQS proteins have two transmembrane regions in the C-terminal. The predicted motifs were used to design universal degenerate primers for PCR analysis and other molecular applications. Phylogenetic analysis showed conserved regions at different stretches with maximum homology in amino acid residues within all SQSs. The secondary structure prediction results showed that the amino acid sequence of all squalene synthases had α helix and random coil as the main components. The reliability of the received model was confirmed using the ProSA and RAMPAGE programs. Determining of active site by CASTp proposes the possibility of using this protein as probable medication target. The findings of the present study may be useful for further assessments on characterization and cloning of squalene synthase.     

Structural bioinformatics study of EPSP synthase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The shikimate pathway is an attractive target for herbicides and antimicrobial agent development because it is essential in algae, higher plants, bacteria, and fungi, but absent from mammals. Homologues to enzymes in the shikimate pathway have been identified in the genome sequence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Among them, the EPSP synthase was proposed to be present by sequence homology. Accordingly, in order to pave the way for structural and functional efforts towards anti-mycobacterial agent development, here we describe the molecular modeling of 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate (EPSP) synthase isolated from M. tuberculosis that should provide a structural framework on which the design of specific inhibitors may be based on. Significant differences in the relative orientation of the domains in the two models result in "open" and "closed" conformations. The possible relevance of this structural transition in the ligand biding is discussed.     

细菌中倍半萜生物合成的研究进展

萜类化合物是一大类小分子天然产物,在生物体内扮演重要的角色。植物和真菌中萜类化合物的生物合成已被广泛研究,但是在真核生物中克隆或改造萜类化合物生物合成途径还有较大难度。许多细菌同样可以产生萜类化合物。在过去十多年间细菌萜类合酶的研究进展为我们对萜类化合物生物合成的理解做出了显著的贡献。这里我们主要关注细菌中合成的倍半萜化合物,概述其化学结构、倍半萜合酶对法尼基焦磷酸环化的机制、后修饰酶特别是氧化还原酶所参与的后修饰、代谢调控以及合成途径中尚未解决的问题等。     

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of the terpenoid indole alkaloid-producing plant species Tabernaemontana pandacaqui

Plants of the Apocynaceae family produce a wide range of terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIAs) which have important pharmaceutical applications. Studies of the molecular mechanisms controlling TIA biosynthesis may eventually provide possibilities to improve product yield by genetic modification of plants or cell cultures. However, these studies suffer from the lack of transformation/regeneration protocols for Apocynaceae plants. We chose to study the feasibility of Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of Tabernaemontana pandacaqui, because of the availability of an efficient regeneration procedure for this member of the Apocynaceae family. A procedure to produce transgenic T. pandacaqui plants was established, albeit with low efficiency. Transgenic expression was demonstrated of an intron-containing β-glucuronidase reporter gene and of a gene coding for the TIA biosynthetic enzyme strictosidine synthase from Catharanthus roseus, another Apocynaceae species. Received: 16 June 1997 / Revision received: 12 July 1997 / Accepted: 13 July 1997     

Three terpenoid glycosides of Centipeda minima

From the n-BuOH-soluble extract of the whole plant of Centipeda minima (Asteraceae), the investigation on chemical constituents led to the isolation of three new compounds including 3′-desulphatedatractyloside (1), 15-O-[α-l-rhamnosyl-(1→2)-β-d-glucosyl]grandiflorolic acid (2), and 2α-hydroxylemmonin C (3), along with five known compounds (4–8). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of the NMR spectroscopic analysis.     

Exploring biosynthetic diversity with trichodiene synthase

Trichodiene synthase is a terpenoid cyclase that catalyzes the cyclization of farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) to form the bicyclic sesquiterpene hydrocarbon trichodiene (89%), at least five sesquiterpene side products (11%), and inorganic pyrophosphate (PP(i)). Incubation of trichodiene synthase with 2-fluorofarnesyl diphosphate or 4-methylfarnesyl diphosphate similarly yields sesquiterpene mixtures despite the electronic effects or steric bulk introduced by substrate derivatization. The versatility of the enzyme is also demonstrated in the 2.85A resolution X-ray crystal structure of the complex with Mg(2+) (3)-PP(i) and the benzyl triethylammonium cation, which is a bulkier mimic of the bisabolyl carbocation intermediate in catalysis. Taken together, these findings show that the active site of trichodiene synthase is sufficiently flexible to accommodate bulkier and electronically-diverse substrates and intermediates, which could indicate additional potential for the biosynthetic utility of this terpenoid cyclase.     

Accumulation of prenyl alcohols by terpenoid biosynthesis inhibitors in various microorganisms

Squalene synthase inhibitors significantly accelerate the production of farnesol by various microorganisms. However, farnesol production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC 64031, in which the squalene synthase gene is deleted, was not affected by the inhibitors, indicating that farnesol accumulation is enhanced in the absence of squalene synthase activity. The combination of diphenylamine as an inhibitor of carotenoid biosynthesis and a squalene synthase inhibitor increases geranylgeraniol production by a yeast, Rhodotorula rubra NBRC 0870. An ent-kauren synthase inhibitor also enhances the production of farnesol and geranylgeraniol by a filamentous fungus, Gibberella fujikuroi NBRC 30336. These results indicate that the inhibition of downstream enzymes from prenyl diphosphate synthase leads to the production of farnesol and geranylgeraniol.     

生物信息学本科专业建设现状

随着后基因组时代的到来,生物信息学逐渐进入了黄金发展期。生物信息学教育体系的建立和完善是永葆生物信息学活力的关键。国际和国内的生物信息学本科专业建设情况的分析显示全球生物信息学本科教育均处于起始阶段。深刻剖析了内蒙古自治区生物信息发展的瓶颈问题以及内蒙古科技大学开设生物信息学本科专业的优势和必要性。未来,随着测序技术、计算机技术等的进步,生物信息学将继续蓬勃发展;生物信息学人才的需求将不断扩大。为适应人才市场的需求,预计会有越来越多的高等院校将加入到中国的生物信息学本科教育事业。     

A novel cytotoxic terpenoid from the flowers of Kaunia lasiophthalma Griseb

A phytochemical study of the flowers of Kaunia lasiophthalma G. (Asteraceae) yielded a novel triterpene (1) together with several known sesquiterpenoids. The structure of the new compound was elucidated by analysis of the spectroscopic data. The biosynthetic origin of 1 is proposed to be a dimerization of an oxidized derivative (3) of the germacrane sesquiterpene costunolide (2), also present in the flowers. The anticancer activity of 1 in the five breast cancer cell lines HCC1937, JIMT-1, L56Br-C1, MCF-7 and SK-BR-3 was compared with the cytotoxicity in the normal-like breast epithelial cell line MCF-10A. 1 exhibited high cytotoxicity in all investigated cancer cell lines with IC₅₀ values ranging from 0.67 to 7.0 μM, although it is lacking selectivity as the MCF-10A cells were almost as sensitive.     

QSAR study of mosquito repellents from terpenoid with a six-member-ring

A new class of low-toxicity mosquito repellents is synthesized from - and β-pinene in terpenoid compounds and preliminary biological tests show promising mosquito repellency. Statistical modeling is built using Codessa in order to reveal the quantitative relationship between the structure and the biological activity and to provide the guidance for further synthetic work.