Plant Physiol. Illumina
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Plant Physiology Preview
Published on May 19, 2006; 10.1104/pp.106.082859

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (Plant Physiology Preview (PDF))
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
141/3/1120    most recent
pp.106.082859v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (8)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Awai, K.
Right arrow Articles by Ohta, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Awai, K.
Right arrow Articles by Ohta, H.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Awai, K.
Right arrow Articles by Ohta, H.

Received May 3, 2006
Returned for revision May 8, 2006
Accepted May 9, 2006

Comparative genomic analysis revealed a gene for monoglucosyldiacylglycerol synthase, an enzyme for photosynthetic membrane lipid synthesis in cyanobacteria

Koichiro Awai *, Takatoshi Kakimoto , Chie Awai , Takakazu Kaneko , Yuki Nakamura , Ken-ichiro Takamiya , Hajime Wada , and Hiroyuki Ohta

Graduate School for Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259-B-14 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, 226-8501, Japan
Kazusa DNA Research Institute, Kisarazu, Chiba, 292-0818, Japan
Graduate School for Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259-B-14 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, 226-8501, Japan; Research Center for the Evolving Earth and Planets, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259-B-14 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, 226-8501, Japan
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Komaba, Tokyo, 153-8902, Japan

* Corresponding author; email: awai{at}molbiol.saitama-u.ac.jp.

Cyanobacteria have a thylakoid lipid composition very similar to that of plant chloroplasts, yet cyanobacteria are proposed to synthesize monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG), a major membrane polar lipid in photosynthetic membranes, by a different pathway. In addition, plant MGDG synthase has been cloned but no ortholog has been reported in cyanobacterial genomes. We report here the identification of the gene for monoglucosyldiacylglycerol (MGlcDG) synthase, which catalyzes the first step of galactolipid synthesis in cyanobacteria. Using comparative genomic analysis, candidates for the gene were selected based on the criteria that the enzyme activity is conserved between two species of cyanobacteria (unicellular (Synechocystis PCC6803) and filamentous (Anabaena PCC7120)) and we assumed three characteristics of the enzyme, namely that it harbors a glycosyltransferase motif, falls into a category of genes with unknown function and shares significant similarity in amino acid sequence between these two cyanobacteria. By motif search of all genes of Synechocystis, BLAST searches, and similarity searches between these two cyanobacteria, we identified four candidates for the enzyme which have all characteristics we predicted. When expressed in Escherichia coli, one of the Synechocystis candidate proteins showed MGlcDG synthase activity in a UDP-Glc dependent manner. The ortholog in Anabaena also showed the same activity. The enzyme was predicted to require a divalent cation for its activity and this was confirmed by biochemical analysis. The MGlcDG synthase and the plant MGDG synthase shared low similarity, supporting the presumption that cyanobacteria and plants utilize different pathway to synthesize MGDG.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 BioinformaticsHome page
N. Sato
Gclust: trans-kingdom classification of proteins using automatic individual threshold setting
Bioinformatics, March 1, 2009; 25(5): 599 - 605.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Lipid Res.Home page
C. Botte, N. Saidani, R. Mondragon, M. Mondragon, G. Isaac, E. Mui, R. McLeod, J.-F. Dubremetz, H. Vial, R. Welti, et al.
Subcellular localization and dynamics of a digalactolipid-like epitope in Toxoplasma gondii
J. Lipid Res., April 1, 2008; 49(4): 746 - 762.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Plant Cell PhysiolHome page
K. Awai, H. Watanabe, C. Benning, and I. Nishida
Digalactosyldiacylglycerol is Required for Better Photosynthetic Growth of Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 Under Phosphate Limitation
Plant Cell Physiol., November 1, 2007; 48(11): 1517 - 1523.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Eukaryot CellHome page
N. Sato and T. Moriyama
Genomic and Biochemical Analysis of Lipid Biosynthesis in the Unicellular Rhodophyte Cyanidioschyzon merolae: Lack of a Plastidic Desaturation Pathway Results in the Coupled Pathway of Galactolipid Synthesis
Eukaryot. Cell, June 1, 2007; 6(6): 1006 - 1017.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
ASPB Publications PLANT PHYSIOLOGY® THE PLANT CELL
Copyright © 2006 by the American Society of Plant Biologists