This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 136/4/4061    most recent pp.104.053587v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Web of Science (10) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sauter, M. Articles by Rzewuski, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sauter, M. Articles by Rzewuski, G. Agricola Articles by Sauter, M. Articles by Rzewuski, G.

BIOCHEMICAL PROCESSES AND MACROMOLECULAR STRUCTURES

Functional Analysis of Methylthioribose Kinase Genes in Plants¹

Botanisches Institut, Universität Kiel, 24098 Kiel, Germany (M.S., S.B., G.R.); and Department of Chemistry, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho 83725–1520 (K.A.C.)

Through a biochemical and a genetic approach, we have identified several plant genes encoding methylthioribose (MTR) kinase, an enzyme involved in recycling of methionine through the methylthioadenosine (MTA) cycle. OsMTK1, an MTR kinase from rice (Oryza sativa), is 48.6 kD in size and shows cooperative kinetics with a V_max of 4.9 pmol/min and a K_0.5 of 16.8 µM. MTR kinase genes are the first genes to be identified from the MTA cycle in plants. Insertional mutagenesis of the unique AtMTK gene in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) resulted in an inability of plants to grow on MTA as a supplemental sulfur source. MTK knock-out plants were not impaired in growth under standard conditions, indicating that the MTA cycle is a nonessential metabolic pathway in Arabidopsis when sulfur levels are replete. In rice, OsMTK genes were strongly up-regulated in shoots and roots when plants were exposed to sulfur starvation. Gene expression was largely unaffected by lack of nitrogen or iron in the nutrient solution, indicating that OsMTK regulation was linked specifically to sulfur metabolism.

Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.104.053587.

^* Corresponding author; e-mail msauter{at}bot.uni-kiel.de; fax 0049–431–8804222.

Received September 17, 2004; returned for revision October 21, 2004; accepted October 21, 2004.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S.-Y. Ku, P. Yip, K. A. Cornell, M. K. Riscoe, J.-B. Behr, G. Guillerm, and P. L. Howell Structures of 5-Methylthioribose Kinase Reveal Substrate Specificity and Unusual Mode of Nucleotide Binding J. Biol. Chem., July 27, 2007; 282(30): 22195 - 22206. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Rzewuski, K. A. Cornell, L. Rooney, K. Burstenbinder, M. Wirtz, R. Hell, and M. Sauter OsMTN encodes a 5'-methylthioadenosine nucleosidase that is up-regulated during submergence-induced ethylene synthesis in rice (Oryza sativa L.) J. Exp. Bot., April 1, 2007; 58(6): 1505 - 1514. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. Pommerrenig, I. Barth, M. Niedermeier, S. Kopp, J. Schmid, R. A. Dwyer, R. J. McNair, F. Klebl, and N. Sauer Common Plantain. A Collection of Expressed Sequence Tags from Vascular Tissue and a Simple and Efficient Transformation Method Plant Physiology, December 1, 2006; 142(4): 1427 - 1441. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Kobayashi, M. Suzuki, H. Inoue, R. N. Itai, M. Takahashi, H. Nakanishi, S. Mori, and N. K. Nishizawa Expression of iron-acquisition-related genes in iron-deficient rice is co-ordinately induced by partially conserved iron-deficiency-responsive elements J. Exp. Bot., May 1, 2005; 56(415): 1305 - 1316. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]