Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sami Kazaz, Romane Miray, Loic Lepiniec, Sebastien Baud
Summary: Monounsaturated fatty acids are important components synthesized by plants, with unique structures and biological functions, widely used in the food and chemical industries. Ongoing research into the links between fatty acid structures and functions provides a theoretical basis for the development of new crops rich in monounsaturated fatty acids.
PROGRESS IN LIPID RESEARCH
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Yingqi Cai, Xiao-Hong Yu, John Shanklin
Summary: Plants convert carbohydrates into energy-dense lipids through photosynthesis, making plant oils an economically and sustainably attractive feedstock for biofuels and value-added bioproducts. Various strategies have been developed to enhance lipid accumulation and produce specialty lipids with increased uses and value. Successful metabolic engineering involves expression of lipogenic factors from other sources or with specialized functionality.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Alyssa C. Clews, Brandon A. Ulch, Monika Jesionowska, Jun Hong, Robert T. Mullen, Yang Xu
Summary: Plant oils have important applications in food, feed, and oleochemical industries. Different plant species accumulate unique oils with distinct fatty acid compositions. Recent research has revealed the specialized oil metabolism pathways in select plant species, involving gene co-expression networks and structurally divergent enzymes/proteins. This article summarizes advances in understanding oil biosynthesis in plants, including gene expression patterns, divergent enzymes/proteins, and protein interactomes and substrate channeling.
PLANT AND CELL PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Plant Sciences
Shengnan Zhu, Cuiyue Liang, Jiang Tian, Yingbin Xue
Summary: This review summarizes recent discoveries and molecular basis of plant adaptive mechanisms to low phosphate availability, providing insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying plant adaptation to phosphorus starvation and facilitating the development of crop cultivars with high phosphorus utilization efficiency.
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Xiufen Zhang, Qilin Wu, Wenxuan Zheng, Chuang Liu, Liang Huang, Xin Zuo, Wenquan Xiao, Xiaofeng Han, Hui Ye, Wence Wang, Lin Yang, Yongwen Zhu
Summary: This study investigated the effects of exogenous fatty acid intervention on embryonic development in an avian embryo model. It was found that hepatic lipid and fatty acid metabolism play critical roles in embryogenesis. The intervention with oleic acid affected lipid metabolism and gene expression related to fatty acid uptake, synthesis, and oxidation in the embryos.
Review
Plant Sciences
Lucas Busta, Kent D. Chapman, Edgar B. Cahoon
Summary: This article reviews recent evidence that protein-protein interactions in each of the three major phases of oil formation have profound effects on the accumulation of specialized oils. The authors suggest that further understanding of the noncatalytic attributes of enzymes and other proteins involved in oil formation is critical for creating high performing, engineered oilseeds derived from renewable bioproducts.
CURRENT OPINION IN PLANT BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Julia Moura-Silva, Matheus P. S. Tavares, Fernanda Almeida-Oliveira, David Majerowicz
Summary: Insects are valuable models for studying human metabolic diseases due to their low cost and available tools. This study examines the effect of a high-calorie, high-fat diet supplemented with powdered egg yolk on the metabolism of Tribolium castaneum beetles. The diet increased the beetle's triacylglycerol levels but did not affect glucose levels or lipogenic capacity. It also had no impact on the expression profile of key metabolism genes or insulin-like peptides. Overall, the diet induced increased fat without causing diabetes phenotypes.
ARCHIVES OF INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lu Gan, Kiyoul Park, Jin Chai, Evan M. Updike, Hyojin Kim, Adam Voshall, Sairam Behera, Xiao-Hong Yu, Yuanheng Cai, Chunyu Zhang, Mark A. Wilson, Jeffrey P. Mower, Etsuko N. Moriyama, Chi Zhang, Sireewan Kaewsuwan, Qun Liu, John Shanklin, Edgar B. Cahoon
Summary: The seed oils of Thunbergia species contain high levels of petroselinic acid, which is attributed to the functional specialization of specific enzymes. Metabolic engineering demonstrates the utility of these enzymes for the production of unusual monounsaturated fatty acids in engineered plants and bacteria.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Anna Sergeeva, Tabea Mettler-Altmann, Hongjiu Liu, Hans-Joerg Mai, Petra Bauer
Summary: The perennial plant Arabis alpina has distinct patterns of nutrient allocation and metabolism compared to annual plants. Research indicates that genes related to glycerolipid metabolism are active during the development of the perennial zone (PZ), suggesting they may play a key role in regulating this process.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Seon-Hwa Bae, Myoung Hee Lee, Jeong-Hee Lee, Yeisoo Yu, Jundae Lee, Tae-Ho Kim
Summary: Perilla is a key component of Korean food, containing various plant-specialized metabolites that provide medical benefits. This study successfully assembled a chromosome-level genome of the wild Perilla variety 'Jeju17' and analyzed its genetic composition, identifying genes related to environmental adaptation, fatty acid metabolism, and plant-specialized metabolite biosynthesis. Additionally, genes involved in fatty acid and lipid triacylglycerol biosynthesis were characterized. This research has important implications for the future development of enhanced Perilla genotypes.
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Atrayee Chattopadhyay, Mohor Mitra, Mrinal K. Maiti
Summary: Research is currently focusing on several nonconventional oleaginous yeast species for developing renewable and sustainable biolipid feedstock. Significant progress has been made in recent years in understanding metabolic pathways, implementing engineering strategies, and improving genetic tools for various yeast genera, which will benefit future studies in strain improvement and metabolic engineering for enhanced lipid production.
BIOTECHNOLOGY ADVANCES
(2021)
Article
Oncology
Chen Yang, Yi-Yuan Jin, Jie Mei, Die Hu, Xiaoyu Jiao, Hui-Lian Che, Chun-Lei Tang, Yan Zhang, Guo-Sheng Wu
Summary: The overexpression of SCD1 in breast cancer patients is associated with poor prognosis. The new ICT derivative, IC2, inhibits the viability of breast cancer cells and induces cell apoptosis. IC2 exerts its effects by inhibiting the activity and expression of SCD1, making it a potential therapeutic compound for breast cancer treatment.
CANCER CELL INTERNATIONAL
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Yanbin Liu, Chong Mei John Koh, Sihui Amy Yap, Lin Cai, Lianghui Ji
Summary: This study characterized key fatty acid desaturase genes in Rhodotorula toruloides, revealing their important roles in unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis, membrane stress resistance, and biomass production. Manipulation of these genes could lead to high-level fatty acid production.
BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS
(2021)
Review
Plant Sciences
Seon-Hwa Bae, Yedomon Ange Bovys Zoclanclounon, Thamilarasan Senthil Kumar, Jae-Hyeon Oh, Jundae Lee, Tae-Ho Kim, Ki Young Park
Summary: This review summarizes recent findings on key genes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis and TAGs assembly in Perilla, providing insights for further applications in oil bioengineering and the development of alpha-linolenic acid-enhanced Perilla genotypes.
Article
Cell Biology
Ying Yang, Jiaxing He, Bo Zhang, Zhansheng Zhang, Guozhan Jia, Shiqi Liu, Tao Wu, Xianli He, Nan Wang
Summary: SLC25A1 is significantly upregulated in CRC, associated with poor survival in patients, and reprograms energy metabolism through two mechanisms to promote CRC growth. It serves as a potential diagnostic marker and therapeutic target in CRC.
CELL DEATH & DISEASE
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Colin Farrell, Maria Vaquero-Sedas, Maria D. Cubiles, Michael Thompson, Alejandro Vega-Vaquero, Matteo Pellegrini, Miguel A. Vega-Palas
Summary: DNA methylation modulates telomere function in Arabidopsis thaliana, where subtelomeric DNA methylation extends from Interstitial Telomeric Sequences (ITSs) near telomeres. However, it drops at the telomeric side and disappears at the inner part of telomeres.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Yang-Tsung Lin, Tomomi Takeuchi, Brian Youk, James Umen, Barbara B. Sears, Christoph Benning
Summary: In the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the CHT7 protein plays a critical role in regulating the cell cycle, affecting cell morphology, division, and survival. CHT7 has an opposite regulatory role to mitotic cyclin-dependent kinases, and its absence leads to abnormal expression of cell wall synthesis and remodeling genes. Furthermore, the loss of CHT7 results in the misregulation of minimally characterized kinases, some of which are related to MAP3K and Aurora-like kinases.
G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Kalsuda Lapborisuth, Colin Farrell, Matteo Pellegrini
Summary: This study uses pseudotime analysis to determine the functional form of DNA methylation trajectories, which show a nonlinear relationship with time. The results indicate that the pseudotime trajectory can be modeled using a sum of two exponentials, with coefficients close to human age-associated mortality timescales. This allows for the identification of age-associated molecular changes that appear to track the exponential dynamics of mortality risk.
Article
Hematology
Jocelynda Salvador, Gloria E. Hernandez, Feiyang Ma, Cyrus W. Abrahamson, Matteo Pellegrini, Robert Goldman, Karen M. Ridge, M. Luisa Iruela-Arispe
Summary: This study revealed the unexpected contribution of vimentin in driving complete closure of the ductus arteriosus through a mechanism that includes deregulation of the Notch signaling pathway, through single-cell RNA-sequencing and tracking closure of the ductus arteriosus in mice.
ARTERIOSCLEROSIS THROMBOSIS AND VASCULAR BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Marco Morselli, Colin Farrell, Dennis Montoya, Tarik Goren, Ramazan Sabirli, Ibrahim Turkcuer, Ozgur Kurt, Aylin Koseler, Matteo Pellegrini
Summary: The composition of immune cell types changes with age, impacting the response to infectious diseases. By profiling epigenetic marks of immune cells, we can predict pneumonia diagnosis and SARS-CoV-2 viral genome positivity. This DNA methylation-based approach also allows for the prediction of pneumonia severity.
Article
Plant Sciences
Donghee Hoh, Patrick J. Horn, Atsuko Kanazawa, John Froehilch, Jeffrey Cruz, Oliver L. Tessmer, David Hall, Lina Yin, Christoph Benning, David M. Kramer
Summary: The study reveals that chilling sensitivity in cowpea is mainly modulated by specific lipid interactions rather than bulk properties. Accumulation of PG 16:1t may result from upstream effects on photosynthesis, altering redox status and production of reactive oxygen species.
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Leila R. Fletcher, Christine Scoffoni, Colin Farrell, Thomas N. Buckley, Matteo Pellegrini, Lawren Sack
Summary: Research has found that there is a decoupling between relative growth rate and adaptation to cold or dry climates in Arabidopsis ecotypes. This decoupling is consistent with the presence of multiple stress resistance and avoidance mechanisms, contributing to the wide geographic range and resilience of the species.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Rory J. Craig, Sean D. Gallaher, Shengqiang Shu, Patrice A. Salome, Jerry W. Jenkins, Crysten E. Blaby-Haas, Samuel O. Purvine, Samuel O'Donnell, Kerrie Barry, Jane Grimwood, Daniela Strenkert, Janette Kropat, Chris Daum, Yuko Yoshinaga, David M. Goodstein, Olivier Vallon, Jeremy Schmutz, Sabeeha S. Merchant
Summary: The article presents a major update to the Chlamydomonas reference genome and structural annotations, revealing large genomic changes in laboratory culture. The authors improved assembly quality and annotations, generated chromosome-level assemblies for two laboratory strains, and validated their results through linkage analyses. They also updated gene symbols and textual annotation of functionally characterized genes, and discovered genomic instability in the classical reference strain. The resources presented in this article will pave the way for further research in Chlamydomonas genomics.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Marco Morselli, Ronan Bennett, Nikko-Ideen Shaidani, Marko Horb, Leonid Peshkin, Matteo Pellegrini
Summary: This study finds that age-associated changes in DNA methylation also exist in amphibians, and whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) profiles from skin samples of nine frogs were used to characterize the gene- and chromosome-scale features of age-associated DNA methylation changes. The results suggest that the mechanism of DNA methylation changes in amphibians is similar to that in mammals. Additionally, a targeted DNA methylation analysis (TBSseq) assay was developed for future studies with larger cohorts of individuals. The findings of this study will contribute to understanding the relationship between DNA methylation and other hallmarks of aging using the unique resources available for Xenopus.
Correction
Endocrinology & Metabolism
David A. Salisbury, David Casero, Zhengyi Zhang, Dan Wang, Jason Kim, Xiaohui Wu, Laurent Vergnes, Aashiq H. Mirza, Paola Leon-Mimila, Kevin J. Williams, Adriana Huertas-Vazquez, Samie R. Jaffrey, Karen Reue, Jianjun Chen, Tamer Sallam
Article
Cell Biology
Giulia Protti, Liudmilla Rubbi, Tarik Goren, Ramazan Sabirli, Serkan Civlan, Ozgur Kurt, Ibrahim Turkcuer, Aylin Koseler, Matteo Pellegrini
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the association between the methylome of buccal epithelial cells and demographic and health-related variables. Multiple factors, including age, sex, blood immune composition, and hemoglobin levels, were found to accurately model DNA methylation variation. The identified genomic loci associated with these factors were enriched in relevant transcription factors, drugs, and diseases. This study contributes to a better understanding of human methylome plasticity and highlights the potential clinical implications of considering these physiological traits in medical epigenomic investigations.
PHYSIOLOGICAL GENOMICS
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yang Xu, Shrikaar Kambhampati, Stewart A. Morley, Ron Cook, John Froehlich, Doug K. Allen, Christoph Benning
Summary: The study found that ACP4 and RBL10 can affect chloroplast lipid biosynthesis by modulating substrate precursor pools, thus participating in chloroplast lipid assembly and monogalactosyldiacylglycerol biosynthesis. This study shows that Arabidopsis ACP4 and RBL10 independently affect chloroplast membrane lipid biosynthesis.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lital Davidi, Sean D. Gallaher, Eyal Ben-David, Samuel O. Purvine, Thomas L. Fillmore, Carrie D. Nicora, Rory J. Craig, Stefan Schmollinger, Sanja Roje, Crysten E. Blaby-Haas, Robert P. Auber, Jennifer H. Wisecaver, Sabeeha S. Merchant
Summary: This article investigates the adaptation mechanisms of two marine algae species under iron-deficient conditions. The study reveals multiple iron uptake routes in these species and their ability to adjust protein expression and structure to cope with iron deficiency.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Friedrich Hohmann, Lisa Wedekind, Felicitas Grundeis, Steffen Dickel, Johannes Frank, Martin Golinski, Mirko Griesel, Clemens Grimm, Cindy Herchenhahn, Andre Kramer, Maria-Inti Metzendorf, Onnen Moerer, Nancy Olbrich, Volker Thieme, Astrid Vieler, Falk Fichtner, Jacob Burns, Sven Laudi
Summary: There is currently no direct evidence on the benefits or harms of early spontaneous breathing in COVID-19 patients, highlighting the need for further research.
COCHRANE DATABASE OF SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS
(2022)
Correction
Endocrinology & Metabolism
David A. Salisbury, David Casero, Zhengyi Zhang, Dan Wang, Jason Kim, Xiaohui Wu, Laurent Vergnes, Aashiq H. Mirza, Paola Leon-Mimila, Kevin J. Williams, Adriana Huertas-Vazquez, Samie R. Jaffrey, Karen Reue, Jianjun Chen, Tamer Sallam