植物类胡萝卜素的生物合成及其调控

阐述植物类胡萝卜素的生物合成途径和影响植物类胡萝卜素生物合成的因素,重点介绍该途径中的主要酶及其基因研究的进展。     

植物纤维素生物合成及其相关酶类

纤维素是由成千上万个D-葡萄糖分子通过β-1,4糖苷键连接的具有一定立体构象的链状聚合物,其葡萄糖残基约为2000～25000个。它是细胞壁的主要组成成分之一。植物,大多数藻类,一些细菌和真菌甚至有些动物都能合成纤维素。它作为世界上最丰富的,具有巨大商业价值的生物多聚体,几十年来一直受到人们的重视,成为人们的研究热点。尽管如此,这方面的研究仍比较滞后,人们对纤维素生物合成途径及其相关酶类还是知之甚少。近几年来,随着基因组学的发展,关于纤维素的生物合成及相关基因表达调控的研究也成绩斐然,现就高等植物纤维素生物合成途径及其相关的纤维素合成酶的最新研究进展作一介绍。     

植物乙烯生物合成研究进展

本文对植物体内乙烯生物合成途径中控制ＡＣＣ合成及代谢的三种酶：ＡＣＣ合酶,ＡＣＣ氧化酶和ＡＣＣ：Ｎ－丙二酰基转移酶的特性、基因家庭及其表达等方面的问题进行了评述。     

枯草芽孢杆菌抗菌肽生物合成的研究进展

革兰氏阳性菌模式生物--枯草芽孢杆菌能分泌多种肽类及由肽类衍生的抗菌活性物质,按合成途径不同,可分为核糖体肽和非核糖体肽。其中,非核糖体肽分子量较小,一般为3000Da以下,其生物合成是通过多功能复合酶系--非核糖体肽链合成酶来完成的,多发生在菌体生长停止之后;而核糖体肽分子量较大,其合成多于菌体快速生长时期。非核糖体肽链合成酶和核糖体肽的合成及其调控均需基因参与,而这一系列基因就构成了各种抗菌肽生物合成的基因簇。对核糖体肽和非核糖体肽的生物合成及其相关调控机制进行了综述。     

非核糖体肽的生物合成研究进展

非核糖体肽(nonribosomal peptide, NRP)是由多种微生物通过非核糖体肽合成酶(nonribosomal peptide synthetase, NRPS)等催化合成的一类小分子多肽类次级代谢产物,具有抗菌、抗肿瘤、免疫抑制等多种生物活性,是一类重要的微生物药物,具有很高的临床应用价值。从目前已发现的小分子多肽类天然药物出发,综述了该类物质的生物功能、合成组装机制以及近年来在工程改造方面的进展,并提出了未来研究发展方向,对进一步通过组合生物合成等方式高效合成更多种类的小分子多肽类活性物质具有借鉴意义。     

植物中多不饱和脂肪酸生物合成的基因工程

多不饱和脂肪酸 (ｐｏｌｙｕｎｓａｕｒａｔｅｄｆａｔｔｙａｃｉｄｓ ,简称ＰＵＦＡ ,即含有两个或两个以上双键的长链脂肪酸[1] ) ,过去二十几年的研究 ,揭示了它在生物体内有广泛作用 ,在营养学和医学上都很重要[1～ 6] ,其生理功能和生物合成的研究得到广泛重视。1　多不饱和脂肪酸的生理功能　　 (1 )是生物膜的重要组成成分 ,调节与膜有关的生理过程。ＰＵＦＡ ,特别是花生四烯酸 (2 0∶4Δ5,8,11,14 ,ａｒａｃｈｉｄｏｎａｔｅ,ＡＡ)是磷脂结构功能的主要部分。磷脂在所有细胞膜中均存在 ,是细胞和生物膜的关键组份 ,它们对生物膜结…     

植物脂肪酸的生物合成与基因工程

植物脂肪酸既具重要生理功能,又有巨大食用和工业价值。其生物合成途径较为复杂,涉及乙酰－ＣｏＡ羟化酶、脂肪酸合成酶、脂肪酸去饱和酶和脂肪酸延长酶等一系列酶。近年来,对脂肪酸生物合成途径进行了大量研究,克隆出许多相关基因,初步阐明了脂肪酸合成规律,并在此基础上开展了利用基因工程技术调控脂肪酸合成研究,取得可喜进展。本文详细介绍了植物饱和脂肪酸、不饱和脂肪酸和超长链脂肪酸的生物合成与基因工程研究的新结果     

植物内生菌研究进展及其存在的问题

植物内生菌是一个多样性十分丰富的微生物类群 ,分布于没有外在感染症状的健康植物组织内 ,并与宿主植物协同进化 ,其存在和作用长期以来一直为人们所忽视。随着研究领域的不断拓宽和研究方法的不断深入 ,植物内生菌的生态和生理作用及其作为潜在的生防资源和外源基因载体 ,在农业和医药领域中的巨大应用潜力 ,已逐渐成为国内外研究的热点。本文综述了近 10年来国内外植物内生菌研究的概况和最新进展 ,并对该研究领域中存在的若干问题进行了探讨。     

非核糖体肽合成酶催化的非常规装配模式

非核糖体肽合成酶(NRPSs)催化形成复杂肽类天然产物, 其中很多显示了很好的生物学活性和医疗价值。常规NRPSs具有模块化和线性催化的特点, 然而在生物合成研究过程中也发现了很多具有非常规装配模式的NRPSs。本文针对其中4种非常规装配模式: 重复使用、非线性、模块跳跃和非核糖体前肽模式, 结合一些代表性例子做一小型综述。     

Recent advances in the structural analysis of adenylation domains in natural product biosynthesis

Adenylation (A) domains catalyze the biosynthetic incorporation of acyl building blocks into nonribosomal peptides and related natural products by selectively transferring acyl substrates onto cognate carrier proteins (CP). The use of noncanonical acyl units, such as nonproteinogenic amino acids and keto acids, by A domains expands the structural diversity of natural products. Furthermore, interrupted A domains, which have embedded auxiliary domains, are able to modify the incorporated acyl units. Structural information on A domains is important for rational protein engineering to generate unnatural compounds. In this review, we summarize recent advances in the structural analysis of A domains. First, we discuss the mechanisms by which A domains recognize noncanonical acyl units. We then focus on the interactions of A domains with CP domains and embedded auxiliary domains.     

药用植物甾体生物碱的药理作用及合成途径

甾体生物碱是药用植物中广泛存在的一类代谢产物,是一类具有降压、止咳、平喘、抗肿瘤等生物活性的天然产物。目前,甾体生物碱的合成代谢途径、分离纯化、鉴别及生物学功能研究已成为国内外天然产物研究的热点之一。对药用植物甾体生物碱的药理作用进行了综述,并根据萜类物质合成途径,推测总结了甾体生物碱的合成相关途径和参与该途径的关键酶及其基因克隆的研究进展,以期为药用植物甾体生物碱的代谢途径与基因表达调控及应用研究提供参考。     

Enzyme Action in the Regulation of Plant Hormone Responses

Plants synthesize a chemically diverse range of hormones that regulate growth, development, and responses to environmental stresses. The major classes of plant hormones are specialized metabolites with exquisitely tailored perception and signaling systems, but equally important are the enzymes that control the dose and exposure to the bioactive forms of these molecules. Here, we review new insights into the role of enzyme families, including the SABATH methyltransferases, the methylesterases, the GH3 acyl acid-amido synthetases, and the hormone peptidyl hydrolases, in controlling the biosynthesis and modifications of plant hormones and how these enzymes contribute to the network of chemical signals responsible for plant growth, development, and environmental adaptation.     

Genetics of subpeptin JM4-A and subpeptin JM4-B production by Bacillus subtilis JM4

Subpeptin JM4-A and subpeptin JM4-B are two novel antimicrobial peptides produced by Bacillus subtilis JM4. To identify putative genes involved in their production, degenerate PCR primers targeted to conserved motifs of nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) were used. A resulting 1.2 kb PCR product had high sequence similarity to genes of NRPSs, and then a 2.8 kb DNA fragment flanking it was cloned subsequently. Gene disruption of the resulting 4 kb DNA fragment produced subpeptin-deficient mutant, suggesting that subpeptin JM4-A and subpeptin JM4-B were biosynthesized by NRPSs. Based on this result, a 48 kb gene cluster was cloned, which consisted of nine coding sequences (CDSs) involved in antimicrobial peptide biosynthesis, regulation, and resistance. Disruption of two relatively large CDSs subA and subC led to subpeptin-deficient mutants, which supported the involvement of the cloned gene cluster in subpeptin biosynthesis.     

Generation by mutasynthesis of potential neuroprotectant derivatives of the bipyridyl collismycin A

Collismycin A is a member of the 2,2′-bipyridyl family of natural products and structurally belongs to the hybrid polyketides–nonribosomal peptides. A gene coding for a lysine 2-aminotransferase of Streptomyces sp. CS40 (collismycin A producer) was inactivated by gene replacement. The mutant was unable of synthesizing collismycin A but it recovered this capability when picolinic acid was added to the culture medium. By feeding different picolinic acid analogs to this mutant, two new collismycin A derivatives were obtained with a methyl group at the 4 and 6 position of the first pyridine ring of collismycin A, respectively. The two compounds showed effective neuroprotective action against an oxidative stress inducer in a zebra fish model, one of them showing higher neuroprotectant activity than that of collismycin A and that of the control lipoic acid.     

植物抗病性物质的研究进展

植物与病原菌相互作用后在植物体内会产生抗性物质。植物的抗病性物质包括两大类 :植物固有的抗菌物质和植物保卫素。本文就近年来对植物抗病性物质的化学组成、生物合成、代谢途径方面的研究进行了综述。     

Plant tissue localization of the endophytic insect pathogenic fungi Metarhizium and Beauveria

Endophytic fungi may display preferential tissue colonization within their plant hosts. Here we tested if the endophytic, insect pathogenic fungi (EIPF) Metarhizium and Beauveria showed preferential localization within plant tissues, in the field and under laboratory conditions. In the field, plants were sampled from three separate sites (Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario; Pelham, Ontario; and Torngat Mountains National Park, Newfoundland, Canada) and EIPF were isolated from plant roots, the hypocotyl, and stem and leaves. Two genera of EIPF, Metarhizium spp. and Beauveria bassiana, were isolated from plants sampled, as well as the nematophagous fungus, Pochonia chlamydosporium. Metarhizium spp. were almost exclusively found in roots, whereas B. bassiana and P. chlamydosporium were found throughout the plant. The Metarhizium species were identified by RFLP and 95 % were Metarhizium robertsii, 4.3 % were M. brunneum, and 0.7 % were M. guizhouense. Lab studies with M. robertsii and B. bassiana reflected observations found in the field, that is, Metarhizium was restricted to the roots of plants while B. bassiana was found throughout the plant. Insect infection by these EIPF is preferential with respect to above and below ground insects, and the present study correlates above and below ground insect infections with endophytic colonization by these EIPF.     

Phylogenetic analysis of condensation domains in the nonribosomal peptide synthetases

Condensation (C) domains in the nonribosomal peptide synthetases are capable of catalyzing peptide bond formation between two consecutively bound various amino acids. C-domains coincide in frequency with the number of peptide bonds in the product peptide. In this study, a phylogenetic approach was used to investigate structural diversity of bacterial C-domains. Phylogenetic trees show that the C-domains are clustered into three functional groups according to the types of substrate donor molecules. They are l-peptidyl donors, d-peptidyl donors, and N-acyl donors. The fact that C-domain structure is not subject to optical configuration of amino acid acceptor molecules supports an idea that the conversion from l to d-form of incorporating amino acid acceptor occurs during or after peptide bond formation. l-peptidyl donors and d-peptidyl donors are suggested to separate before separating the lineage of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria in the evolution process.