Article
Plant Sciences
Shuai Liu, Hua Zhong, Qiang Wang, Caixiang Liu, Ting Li, Zhaohua Peng, Yangsheng Li, Hongyu Zhang, Jianglin Liao, Yingjin Huang, Zhaohai Wang
Summary: This study analyzed 454 UDP glucose pyrophosphorylase (UDPGP) proteins from 76 different species, classifying them into three clades based on phylogenetic tree and orthogroups. The study revealed a conserved evolutionary history and functional characteristics of UDPGP genes.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jin-Min Shi, Ting-Ting Wu, Hui Zhou, Yao-Yao Zhang, Li Liu, Goran Widmalm, Josef Voglmeir
Summary: Galactokinases (GalKs) are a group of structurally conserved proteins found in all life forms. A unique GalK orthologue from the bacterium Solitalea canadensis (ScGalK) has been discovered with relaxed substrate requirements and the ability to convert xylose to xylose-1-phosphate. Further investigation identified a putative Glucose-1-phosphate Uridyltransferase (ScGPUT) in close proximity to the ScGalK gene, which can convert xylose-1-phosphate to uridine diphosphate xylose (UDP-xylose) with the presence of uridine triphosphate (UTP).
Article
Microbiology
Oriana Villafraz, Helene Baudouin, Muriel Mazet, Hanna Kulyk, Jean-William Dupuy, Erika Pineda, Cyrille Botte, Daniel Ken Inaoka, Jean-Charles Portais, Frederic Bringaud
Summary: Trypanosomatids sequester glycolysis inside peroxisomes called glycosomes and have functional sugar nucleotide biosynthetic pathways in addition to cytosolic ones. The enzyme UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (UGP) is imported into glycosomes by piggybacking on phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) without a known peroxisome-targeting signal, suggesting a unique mechanism for protein import. These findings shed light on the unconventional compartmentalization of metabolic pathways in trypanosomatids.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Danyang Li, Somshuvra Mukhopadhyay
Summary: The CMP-sialic acid transporter SLC35A1 and UDP-galactose transporter SLC35A2 have distinctive substrate specificities determined by three key pockets in their central cavity: the nucleobase pocket, middle pocket, and sugar pocket. Critical residues such as Y214 and G239 discriminate between different substrates, while residues like Q129 and Q278 interact specifically with certain substrates. This study contributes to a better understanding of substrate specificity in SLC35A1 and SLC35A2 and has implications for disease treatments.
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Rahele Panahabadi, Asadollah Ahmadikhah, Lauren S. McKee, Par K. Ingvarsson, Naser Farrokhi
Summary: The genetic variability of cellulose, lignin, and fermentable sugars contents in rice straw was analyzed through a genome-wide association study, identifying genomic regions significantly associated with these components. Candidate genes involved in cell wall metabolism were found to be associated with cellulose, lignin, and fermentable sugar contents. New SNP markers associated with these components were identified, aiding in understanding the genetic basis of biosynthesis, turnover, and modification of major cell wall components and saccharides in rice straw.
Article
Plant Sciences
Martina Althammer, Christof Regl, Klaus Herburger, Constantin Blochl, Elena Voglas, Christian G. Huber, Raimund Tenhaken
Summary: Galactose toxicity (Gal-Tox) is a common phenomenon in plants, but little is known about the mechanism behind it. This study investigated the role of galactose-containing metabolites like galactose-1-phosphate (Gal-1P) and UDP-Gal in Gal-Tox. Overexpressing USP from Pisum sativum helped reduce Gal-1P levels and alleviate Gal-Tox symptoms in roots. However, the overexpression lines became more sensitive to exogenous galactose. This could be due to the elevated levels of UDP-Gal in the roots.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Zhongyang Xu, Jiasen He, Muhammad Tehseen Azhar, Zhen Zhang, Senmiao Fan, Xiao Jiang, Tingting Jia, Haihong Shang, Youlu Yuan
Summary: This study identified 66 UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (UGP) genes from four cotton species, which play an important role in cotton fiber development. The analysis of evolutionary relationship, gene structure, and expression revealed the conservation and function of UGP genes in cotton fiber development.
Article
Plant Sciences
Zhaohai Wang, Qiang Wang, Lingxia Wei, Yan Shi, Ting Li, KeKe Hu, Shuai Liu, Hua Zhong, Jianglin Liao, Yangsheng Li, Hongyu Zhang, Yingjin Huang
Summary: Functional inactivation of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase 1 (UAP1) induces defense response-related lesion-mimic spots and early senescence in every newly grown leaf of the rice mutant uap1 after a short period's normal growth. However, the molecular mechanism of these leaves sustaining the short period's survival remains unknown. Both UAP1 and UAP2 proteins have highly similar enzymatic activity and subcellular localization, with UAP2 playing a crucial role in maintaining initial normal leaf growth in uap1 plants. Overexpression of the UAP2 gene in uap1 plants rescues the leaf mutant phenotype, indicating the functional similarity between UAP1 and UAP2 in protecting rice leaves from early senescence.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Tuan D. Tran, Munira Aman Ali, Davin Lee, Marie-Anne Felix, Robert J. Luallen
Summary: The study reveals the mechanism by which an intracellular bacterium spreads between intestinal epithelial cells of a natural host by forming filaments. This process is regulated by a conserved nutrient-sensing pathway and reduces host lifespan and fecundity.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ulrike Vogel, Koen Beerens, Tom Desmet
Summary: Nucleotide sugar dehydratases are central to the biosynthesis of deoxy and amino sugars, which have important biological functions in all domains of life. Bacteria are capable of producing a wide range of highly specialized monosaccharides. These sugars are involved in the virulence of pathogenic species and the biosynthesis of diverse macrolide antibiotics. The activity of NS dehydratases plays a key role in the biosynthesis of deoxy sugars, and they can be classified into three groups based on their structure and reaction mechanism.
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Tiago R. Ferreira, Ehud Inbar, Jahangheer Shaik, Brendan M. Jeffrey, Kashinath Ghosh, Deborah E. Dobson, Stephen M. Beverley, David Sacks
Summary: Leishmania, a parasitic protozoa that causes various diseases collectively known as leishmaniases, has been found to undergo sexual reproduction inside the sand fly vector midgut. This study provides the first high resolution, whole-genome sequencing analysis of self-mating in Leishmania, revealing that self-hybridization can occur with comparable frequency as interstrain mating under experimental lab conditions, leading to important genomic alterations that can potentially take place within every naturally infected sand fly.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Qing Chen, Xunju Liu, Yueyang Hu, Yan Wang, Bo Sun, Tao Chen, Ya Luo, Yong Zhang, Mengyao Li, Zejing Liu, Xiaorong Wang, Haoru Tang
Summary: In this study, cloning and functional characterization of a UGT, UGT78H2 in blackberry fruits was reported. The UGT78H2 was found to predominantly glycosylate quercetin and exhibit higher catalytic efficiency towards UDP-galactose.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Wei Mao, Noureddine Lazar, Herman van Tilbeurgh, Philippe M. Loiseau, Sebastien Pomel
Summary: Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease with limited treatment options. GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase (GDP-MP) has been identified as a potential therapeutic target for the development of new antileishmanial drugs. In this study, the enzymatic properties of recombinant L. infantum GDP-MP (LiGDP-MP) were analyzed, revealing a mutation at position 258 compared to the homolog in L. donovani. Further studies are needed to determine the significance of this residue change for L. infantum.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Chenxi Qiu, Huilin Tao, Yu Shen, Qingsheng Qi, Jin Hou
Summary: Regulating storage carbohydrate synthesis improves the availability of acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA, facilitating the synthesis of their derived chemicals.
Article
Plant Sciences
Sandeep Jaiswal, Krishnayan Paul, K. Venkat Raman, Saurabh Tyagi, Manjesh Saakre, Jyotsana Tilgam, Sougata Bhattacharjee, Joshitha Vijayan, Kalyan Kumar Mondal, Rohini Sreevathsa, Debasis Pattanayak
Summary: RNAi-mediated downregulation of the StUGPase gene expression level in potato can reduce the accumulation of reducing sugars during cold storage, leading to the development of CIS tolerant potato varieties.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sorya Belaz, Thibault Rattier, Pierre Lafite, Philippe Moreau, Francoise H. Routier, Florence Robert-Gangneux, Jean-Pierre Gangneux, Richard Daniellou
CARBOHYDRATE RESEARCH
(2015)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jakob Engel, Philipp S. Schmalhorst, Anke Tina Krueger, Christina Theda Mueller, Falk F. R. Buettner, Francoise H. Routier
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anke Tina Krueger, Jakob Engel, Falk F. R. Buettner, Francoise H. Routier
Article
Parasitology
Sebastian Damerow, Carolin Hoppe, Giulia Bandini, Patricia Zarnovican, Falk F. R. Buettner, Michael A. J. Ferguson, Francoise H. Routier
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY
(2015)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Sebastian Damerow, Carolin Hoppe, Giulia Bandini, Patricia Zarnovican, Falk R. Buettner, Carsten G. K. Lueder, Michael A. J. Ferguson, Francoise H. Routier
PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES
(2015)
Article
Microbiology
Joao A. Rodrigues, Alvaro Acosta-Serrano, Markus Aebi, Michael A. J. Ferguson, Francoise H. Routier, Irene Schiller, Simao Soares, Daniel Spencer, Alexander Titz, Iain B. H. Wilson, Luis Izquierdo
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Giulia Bandini, Deborah R. Leon, Carolin M. Hoppe, Yue Zhang, Carolina Agop-Nersesian, Melanie J. Shears, Lara K. Mahal, Francoise H. Routier, Catherine E. Costello, John Samuelson
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2019)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ohm Prakash, Jana Fuehring, John Post, Sharon M. Shepherd, Thomas C. Eadsforth, David Gray, Roman Fedorov, Francoise H. Routier
Article
Parasitology
Giulia Bandini, Andreia Albuquerque-Wendt, Jan Hegermann, John Samuelson, Francoise H. Routier
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Andreia Albuquerque-Wendt, Hermann J. Huette, Falk F. R. Buettner, Francoise H. Routier, Hans Bakker
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2019)
Review
Cell Biology
Danielle J. Lee, Holly O'Donnell, Francoise H. Routier, Joe Tiralongo, Thomas Haselhorst
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Andreia Albuquerque-Wendt, Damien Jacot, Nicolas Dos Santos Pacheco, Carla Seegers, Patricia Zarnovican, Falk F. R. Buettner, Hans Bakker, Dominique Soldati-Favre, Francoise H. Routier
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2020)
Article
Immunology
Alibek Galeev, Abdulhadi Suwandi, Hans Bakker, Ade Oktiviyari, Francoise H. Routier, Lena Krone, Michael Hensel, Guntram A. Grassl
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Carla I. I. Seegers, Isabel Ramon Roth, Patricia Zarnovican, Falk F. R. Buettner, Francoise H. Routier
Summary: This study describes a gene cluster in the human pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus that is involved in the synthesis of the glycosphingolipid Af3c. The function of the genes in this cluster was determined by analyzing glycolipids extracted from A. fumigatus strains deficient in one of the genes. The reconstitution of the Af3c biosynthetic pathway in yeast confirmed the roles of the genes. The absence of Af3c slightly reduced the virulence of A. fumigatus in a Galleria mellonella infection model.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Carolin M. Hoppe, Andreia Albuquerque-Wendt, Giulia Bandini, Deborah R. Leon, Aleksandra Shcherbakova, Falk F. R. Buettner, Luis Izquierdo, Catherine E. Costello, Hans Bakker, Francoise H. Routier
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ankita Chadda, Alexander G. Kozlov, Binh Nguyen, Timothy M. Lohman, Eric A. Galburt
Summary: In this study, it was found that the DNA damage response in Mycobacterium tuberculosis differs from well-studied model bacteria. The DNA repair helicase UvrD1 in Mtb is activated through a redox-dependent process and is closely associated with the homo-dimeric Ku protein. Additionally, Ku protein is shown to stimulate the helicase activity of UvrD1.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2024)