cysteine/arabidopsis

The Arabidopsis thaliana genome has over 550 protease sequences representing all five catalytic types: serine, cysteine, aspartic acid, metallo and threonine (MEROPS peptidase database, http://merops.sanger.ac.uk/), which probably reflect a wide variety of as yet unidentified functions performed by

RNase III enzymes cleave double stranded (ds)RNA. This is an essential step for regulating the processing of mRNA, rRNA, snoRNA and other small RNAs, including siRNA and miRNA. Arabidopsis thaliana encodes nine RNase III: four DICER-LIKE (DCL) and five RNASE THREE LIKE (RTL). To better understand

Biosynthesis of cysteine is a two-step process in higher plants subsequently catalyzed by serine acetyltransferase (SAT) and O-acetylserine (thiol) lyase (OAS-TL) which are present in cytosol, plastids and mitochondria. Recently, the distribution of SAT and OAS-TL in these subcellular compartments

The synthesis of cysteine is positioned at a decisive stage of assimilatory sulphate reduction, marking the fixation of inorganic sulphide into a carbon skeleton. O-acetylserine (thiol) lyase (OAS-TL) catalyses the reaction of inorganic sulphide with O-acetylserine (OAS). Despite its prominent

Among nine cDNA clones (named RD) corresponding to genes that are responsive to dehydration in Arabidopsis thaliana, two clones, RD19 and RD21, were analyzed further. Northern blot analysis revealed that both the RD19 and RD21 mRNAs were not induced by abscisic acid. Neither RD19 nor RD21 mRNA

It is now well established that sphingoid Long Chain Bases (LCBs) are crucial mediators of programmed cell death. In plants, the mycotoxin fumonisin B1 (FB1) produced by the necrotrophic fungus Fusarium moniliforme disrupts the sphingolipid biosynthesis pathway by inhibiting the ceramide synthase

We have identified a novel cDNA clone, termed DcCDT1, from Digitaria ciliaris, that confers cadmium (Cd)-tolerance to yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The gene encodes a predicted peptide of 55 amino acid residues of which 15 (27.3%) are cysteine residues. We found that monocotyledonous plants

We obtained two cDNA clones encoding corn seed cysteine proteinases (CCP1 and CCP2). Sequence analysis showed that CCP1 consists of 371 amino acid residues, in a prepro-protein form, with two unique short insertions in the mature protein region that are not found in papain or other common CPs. CCP2

BACKGROUND In plants, transposons and non-protein-coding repeats are epigenetically silenced by CG and non-CG methylation. This pattern of methylation is mediated in part by small RNAs and two specialized RNA polymerases, termed Pol IV and Pol V, in a process called RNA-directed DNA methylation. By

AtNfs1 is the Arabidopsis thaliana mitochondrial homolog of the bacterial cysteine desulfurases NifS and IscS, having an essential role in cellular Fe-S cluster assembly. Homology modeling of AtNfs1m predicts a high global similarity with E. coli IscS showing a full conservation of residues involved

In plants, the enzymes for cysteine synthesis serine acetyltransferase (SAT) and O-acetylserine-(thiol)-lyase (OASTL) are present in the cytosol, plastids and mitochondria. However, it is still not clearly resolved to what extent the different compartments are involved in cysteine biosynthesis and

CpNifS, a cysteine desulfurase required to supply sulfur for ironsulfur cluster biogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana chloroplasts, belongs to a class of NifS-like enzymes with low endogenous cysteine desulfurase activity. Its bacterial homologue SufS is stimulated by SufE. Here we characterize the

Arsenic is one of the most hazardous pollutants found in aqueous environments and has been shown to be a carcinogen. Phytochelatins (PCs), which are cysteine-rich and thio-reactive peptides, have high binding affinities for various metals including arsenic. Previously, we demonstrated that

There have been many attempts to increase concentrations of the nutritionally essential sulphur amino acids by modifying their biosynthetic pathway in leaves of transgenic plants. This report describes the first modification of cysteine biosynthesis in developing seeds; those of the grain legume,

Sulfur plays a pivotal role in the cellular metabolism of many organisms. In plants, the uptake and assimilation of sulfate is strongly regulated at the transcriptional level. Regulatory factors are the demand of reduced sulfur in organic or non-organic form and the level of O-acetylserine (OAS),