Foyer, C.H., Quick, W.P.: A Molecular Approach to Primary Metabolism in Higher Plants

There have been few insights into the biochemical origins of natural product biosynthesis from primary metabolism. Of particular interest are terpene synthases, which often mediate the committed step in particular biosynthetic pathways so that alteration of their product outcome is a key step in the derivation of novel natural products. These enzymes also catalyze complex reactions of significant mechanistic interest. Following an evolutionary lead from two recently diverged, functionally distinct diterpene synthase orthologs from different subspecies of rice, we have identified a single residue that can switch product outcome. Specifically, the mutation of a conserved isoleucine to threonine that acts to convert not only the originally targeted isokaurene synthase into a specific pimaradiene synthase but also has a much broader effect, which includes conversion of the ent-kaurene synthases found in all higher plants for gibberellin phytohormone biosynthesis to the production of pimaradiene. This surprisingly facile switch for diterpene synthase catalytic specificity indicates the ease with which primary (gibberellin) metabolism can be subverted to secondary biosynthesis and may underlie the widespread occurrence of pimaradiene-derived natural products. In addition, because this isoleucine is required for the mechanistically more complex cyclization to tetracyclic kaurene, whereas substitution with threonine “short-circuits” this mechanism to produce the “simpler” tricyclic pimaradiene, our results have some implications regarding the means by which terpene synthases specify product outcome.

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Corrigendum to: Ammonium metabolism in Selaginella bryopteris in response to dehydration-rehydration and characterisation of desiccation tolerant, thermostable, cytosolic glutamine synthetase from plant

Functional Plant Biology ◽

10.1071/fp20144_co ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 48 (3) ◽

pp. 358

Author(s):

Kamal K. Singh ◽

Shyamaprasad Saha ◽

Ram C. Kadiravana ◽

Deepika Mazumdar ◽

Vijeta Rai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Glutamine Synthetase ◽

Metabolic Regulation ◽

Specific Activity ◽

Higher Plants ◽

Glutamate Synthase ◽

Immunoblot Analysis ◽

Primary Metabolism ◽

Ammonium Metabolism ◽

Free Ammonium ◽

Selaginella Bryopteris

Water deficit (WD) has adverse effects on plant growth, and acclimation requires responses allowing primary metabolism to continue. Resurrection plants can serve as model system to gain insight into metabolic regulation during WD. We herein report the response of a resurrection lycophyte, Selaginella bryopteris, to dehydration-rehydration cycle with emphasis on ammonium metabolism. Dehydration of S. bryopteris fronds resulted in decrease of total protein and increase of free ammonium levels and the effect was reversed on rehydration. The proline content increased twice after 24 h of dehydration, which again recovered to background levels comparable to that at full turgor state. The specific activity of glutamine synthetase (GS) didn’t change significantly till 6 h and then declined by 21% after 24 h of dehydration, whereas specific activities of glutamate synthase (GOGAT) and aminating glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) were enhanced significantly during dehydration. The deaminating activity of GDH also increased during dehydration albeit at a slower rate. Immunoblot analysis indicated overexpression of GS and GDH polypeptides during dehydration and their levels declined on rehydration. The results suggested significant role of GDH along with GS/GOGAT in production of nitrogen-rich amino acids for desiccation tolerance. Unlike higher plants S. bryopteris expressed GS only in cytosol. The enzyme had pH and temperature optima of 5.5 and 60°C, respectively, and it retained 96% activity on preincubation at 60°C for 30 min indicating thermostability. Hence, like higher plants the cytosolic GS from S. bryopteris has a conserved role in stress tolerance.

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A Tale of Two Families: Whole Genome and Segmental Duplications Underlie Glutamine Synthetase and Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase Diversity in Narrow-Leafed Lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.)

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms21072580 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (7) ◽

pp. 2580 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Katarzyna B. Czyż ◽

Michał Książkiewicz ◽

Grzegorz Koczyk ◽

Anna Szczepaniak ◽

Jan Podkowiński ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Glutamine Synthetase ◽

Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase ◽

Higher Plants ◽

Gene Families ◽

Lupinus Angustifolius ◽

Phylogenetic Position ◽

Primary Metabolism ◽

Whole Genome ◽

Segmental Duplications ◽

The Impact

Narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.) has recently been supplied with advanced genomic resources and, as such, has become a well-known model for molecular evolutionary studies within the legume family—a group of plants able to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. The phylogenetic position of lupins in Papilionoideae and their evolutionary distance to other higher plants facilitates the use of this model species to improve our knowledge on genes involved in nitrogen assimilation and primary metabolism, providing novel contributions to our understanding of the evolutionary history of legumes. In this study, we present a complex characterization of two narrow-leafed lupin gene families—glutamine synthetase (GS) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC). We combine a comparative analysis of gene structures and a synteny-based approach with phylogenetic reconstruction and reconciliation of the gene family and species history in order to examine events underlying the extant diversity of both families. Employing the available evidence, we show the impact of duplications on the initial complement of the analyzed gene families within the genistoid clade and posit that the function of duplicates has been largely retained. In terms of a broader perspective, our results concerning GS and PEPC gene families corroborate earlier findings pointing to key whole genome duplication/triplication event(s) affecting the genistoid lineage.

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