Genetic analysis of non-essential amino acid contents in rice (Oryza sativa L.) across environments

Genetic main effects and genotype x environment (GE) interaction effects for 7 non-essential amino acids in milled rice were analyzed for two year data by using the genetic models based on mixed linear model approaches for quantitative traits of triploid endosperm. Nine cytoplasmic, male sterile lines as females and five restoring lines as males were introduced in a diallel cross in two environments. It was found that the content of non-essential amino acids including Asp, Ser, Glu, Gly and Tyr were mainly controlled by genetic main effects, whereas the content of Ala or Pro was mainly affected by GE effects. In genetic main effects, the cytoplasmic and maternal genetic effects were preponderant for all traits of non-essential amino acids, indicating that selection for improving these traits based on the maternal plant would be more effective than on seeds. The total narrow-sense heritabilities for non-essential amino acids were 70.9-85.9%. By predicating the genetic effects of parents, the total genetic effects from Xieqingzao, V20, Zuo 5 and Zhenshan 97 were mainly negative and these parents would decrease the content of most essential amino acids. Since parents of Zhenan 3, Yinchao 1, T49, 26715, 102 and 1391 had possessed a positive value of most total genetic effects, these parents could be chosen as optimal parents for increasing the content of most non-essential amino acids.     

Complex cooperativity of ATP hydrolysis in the F(1)-ATPase molecular motor

F(1)-ATPase catalyses ATP hydrolysis and converts the cellular chemical energy into mechanical rotation. The hydrolysis reaction in F(1)-ATPase does not follow the widely believed Michaelis-Menten mechanism. Instead, the hydrolysis mechanism behaves in an ATP-dependent manner. We develop a model for enzyme kinetics and hydrolysis cooperativity of F(1)-ATPase which involves the binding-state changes to the coupling catalytic reactions. The quantitative analysis and modeling suggest the existence of complex cooperative hydrolysis between three different catalysis sites of F(1)-ATPase. This complexity may be taken into account to resolve the arguments on the binding change mechanism in F(1)-ATPase.     

Nonenzymatic chromophore attachment in biliproteins: conformational control by the detergent Triton X-100

While chromophore attachment to alpha-subunits of cyanobacterial biliproteins has been studied in some detail, little is known about this process in beta-subunits. The ones of phycoerythrocyanin and C-phycocyanin each carry two phycocyanobilin (PCB) chromophores covalently attached to cysteins beta84 and beta155. The differential nonenzymatic reconstitution of PCB to the apoproteins, PecA, PecB, CpcA and CpcB, as well as to mutant proteins of the beta-subunits lacking either one of the two binding cysteins, was studied using overexpression of the respective genes. PCB adds selectively to Cys-84 of CpcA, CpcB, PecA, and PecB, but the bound chromophore has a nonnative configuration, and in the case of CpcA, is partly oxidized to mesobiliverdin (MBV). The oxidation is independent of thiols but can be suppressed by ascorbate. The addition to Cys-beta84 is suppressed in the presence of detergents like Triton X-100, in favor of an addition to Cys-beta155 yielding the correctly bound chromophore. Triton X-100 also inhibits oxidation of the chromophore during addition to CpcA. The effect of Triton X-100 was studied on the isolated components of the reconstitution system. Absorption, fluorescence and circular dichroism spectra indicate a major conformational change of the chromophore upon addition of the detergent, which probably controls the site selectivity of the addition reaction, and inhibits the oxidation of PCB to MBV.     

Colocalization of P450c17 and cytochrome b5 in androgen-synthesizing tissues of the human

Androgens are an integral part of human physiology. The de novo production of androgens is generally limited to the adrenal cortex and the gonads. Androgen synthesis by these steroidogenic tissues requires the bifunctional enzyme cytochrome P450c17, which catalyzes both 17 hydroxylase and 17,20 lyase activities. 17,20-lyase activity is relevant to the regulation of androgen production, and is allosterically modulated through the action of an accessory protein, cytochrome b5 (CytB5). Our objective was to determine the cellular localization of P450c17 and CytB5 in androgen-synthesizing tissues of the human. Immunohistochemical analyses of P450c17 and CytB5 were performed on fetal and adult human adrenals, ovaries, and testes. In the fetal adrenal, CytB5 and P450c17 were both found in the cells of the fetal zone, but not in the neocortex. In the adult adrenal, the zona fasciculata was immunoreactive for P450c17 only, whereas the zona reticularis was immunopositive for both P450c17 and CytB5. In the adult gonads, P450c17 and CytB5 were colocalized in the Leydig cells of the testis, theca interna cells of the follicle, theca lutein cells, and isolated cell clusters in the ovarian stroma. Whereas P450c17 and CytB5 were colocalized in the Leydig cells of the fetal testes, there was no immunostaining for either in the midgestational fetal ovary. Our findings of colocalization of CytB5 and P450c17 are strongly supportive of the view that CytB5 plays an important role in the regulation of the androgen biosynthetic pathway in the fetal and adult human.     

Determination of the topological shape of integral membrane protein light-harvesting complex LH2 from photosynthetic bacteria in the detergent solution by small-angle X-ray scattering

The topological shape of the integral membrane protein light-harvesting complex LH2 from photosynthetic bacteria Rhodobacter spheroides 2.4.1 in detergent solution has been determined from synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering data using direct curve-fitting by the ellipsoid, ab initio shape determination methods of simulated annealing algorithm and multipole expansion, respectively. The results indicate that the LH2 protein in aqueous solution is encapsulated by a monolayered detergent shell. The detergent-stabilized structure has the shape of an oblate plate, with a thickness of 40 A, a long axis of 110 A, and a short axis of 85 A. After correction for the detergent shell, the shape of the LH2 core is also an oblate plate with a height of 40 A, a long axis of 80 A, and a short axis of 55 A. In contrast to the cylindrical crystal structure with a height of 40 A and a diameter of 68 A, the molecular shape of the LH2 complex in detergent solution clearly deviates from the ringlike crystal structure, with an eccentricity found to be 0.59-consistent with the result of single molecular spectroscopy study of the isolated single LH2 molecules.     

The Pseudomonas syringae HopPtoV protein is secreted in culture and translocated into plant cells via the type III protein secretion system in a manner dependent on the ShcV type III chaperone

The bacterial plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae depends on a type III protein secretion system and the effector proteins that it translocates into plant cells to cause disease and to elicit the defense-associated hypersensitive response on resistant plants. The availability of the P. syringae pv. tomato DC3000 genome sequence has resulted in the identification of many novel effectors. We identified the hopPtoV effector gene on the basis of its location next to a candidate type III chaperone (TTC) gene, shcV, and within a pathogenicity island in the DC3000 chromosome. A DC3000 mutant lacking ShcV was unable to secrete detectable amounts of HopPtoV into culture supernatants or translocate HopPtoV into plant cells, based on an assay that tested whether HopPtoV-AvrRpt2 fusions were delivered into plant cells. Coimmunoprecipitation and Saccharomyces cerevisiae two-hybrid experiments showed that ShcV and HopPtoV interact directly with each other. The ShcV binding site was delimited to an N-terminal region of HopPtoV between amino acids 76 and 125 of the 391-residue full-length protein. Our results demonstrate that ShcV is a TTC for the HopPtoV effector. DC3000 overexpressing ShcV and HopPtoV and DC3000 mutants lacking either HopPtoV or both ShcV and HopPtoV were not significantly impaired in disease symptoms or bacterial multiplication in planta, suggesting that HopPtoV plays a subtle role in pathogenesis or that other effectors effectively mask the contribution of HopPtoV in plant pathogenesis.     

N-retinylidene-phosphatidylethanolamine is the preferred retinoid substrate for the photoreceptor-specific ABC transporter ABCA4 (ABCR)

ABCA4, a member of the family of ATP binding cassette (ABC) proteins found in rod and cone photoreceptors, has been implicated in the transport of retinoid compounds across the outer segment disk membrane following the photoactivation of rhodopsin. Mutations in the ABCA4 gene are responsible for Stargardt macular dystrophy and related retinal degenerative diseases that cause a loss in vision. To identify the retinoid substrate that interacts with ABCA4, we have isolated ABCA4 from rod outer segment disk membranes on an immunoaffinity matrix and analyzed retinoid compounds that bind to ABCA4 using high performance liquid chromatography and radiolabeling methods. When all-trans-retinal was added to ABCA4 in the presence of phosphatidylethanolamine, approximately 0.9 mol of N-retinylidene-phosphatidylethanolamine and 0.3 mol of all-trans-retinal were bound per mol of ABCA4 with an apparent K(d) of 2-5 microm. ATP and GTP released these retinoids from ABCA4, whereas ADP, GDP, and nonhydrolyzable derivatives, adenosine 5'-(beta,gamma-imido)triphosphate and guanosine 5'-(beta,gamma-imido)triphosphate, were ineffective. One mole of N-retinyl-phosphatidylethanolamine, the reduced form of N-retinylidene-phosphatidylethanolamine, bound per mol of ABCA4, whereas 0.3 mol of all-trans-retinal were bound in the absence of phosphatidylethanolamine. No binding of all-trans-retinol to ABCA4 was observed. Our results indicate that ABCA4 preferentially binds N-retinylidene-phosphatidylethanolamine with high affinity in the absence of ATP. Our studies further suggest that ATP binding and hydrolysis induces a protein conformational change that causes N-retinylidene-phosphatidylethanolamine to dissociate from ABCA4.     

The integrin alpha L beta 2 hybrid domain serves as a link for the propagation of activation signal from its stalk regions to the I-like domain

Integrin activation involves global conformational changes as demonstrated by various functional and structural analyses. The integrin beta hybrid domain is proposed to be involved in the propagation of this activation signal. Our previous study showed that the integrin beta(2)-specific monoclonal antibody 7E4 abrogates monoclonal antibody KIM185-activated but not Mg(2+)/EGTA-activated leukocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1; alpha(L)beta(2))-mediated adhesion to ICAM-1. Here we investigated the allosteric inhibitory property of 7E4. By using human/mouse chimeras and substitution mutations, the epitope of 7E4 was mapped to Val(407), located in the mid-region of the beta(2) hybrid domain. Two sets of constitutively active LFA-1 variants were used to examine the effect of 7E4 on LFA-1/ICAM-1 binding. 7E4 attenuated the binding of variants that have modifications to regions membrane proximal with respect to the beta(2) hybrid domain. In contrast, the inhibitory effect was minimal on variants with alterations in the alpha(L) I- and beta(2) I-like domains preceding the hybrid domain. Furthermore, 7E4 abrogated LFA-1/ICAM-1 adhesion of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate-treated MOLT-4 cells. Our data demonstrate that interaction between the hybrid and I-like domain is critical for the regulation of LFA-1-mediated adhesion.     

A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method for the measurement of fatty acid omega and omega(-1) hydroxylation kinetics by CYP4A1 using an artificial membrane system

A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry assay method for the analysis of lauric, myristic, and palmitic acids and their omega and omega(-1) hydroxylated metabolites from in vitro incubations of cytochrome P450 CYP4A1, involving solid-phase extraction and trimethysilyl derivatization, was developed. The assay was linear, precise, and accurate over the range 0.5 to 50microM for all the analytes. It has the advantages of a more rapid analysis time, an improved sensitivity, and a wider range of analytes compared with other methods. An artificial membrane system was optimized for application to purified CYP4A1 enzyme by investigating the molar ratios of cytochrome b(5) and cytochrome P450 reductase present in the incubation mixture. Using this method, the kinetics of omega and omega(-1) oxidation of lauric, myristic, and palmitic acids by CYP4A enzymes were measured and compared in rat liver microsomes and an artificial membrane system.