Alleles disrupting LBD37-like gene by an 136 bp insertion show different distributions between green and purple cabbages (Brassica oleracea var. capitata).

Background: In Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis), clade IIb lateral organ boundary domain (LBD) 37, 38, and 39 proteins negatively regulate anthocyanin biosynthesis and affect nitrogen responses.

Objective: To investigate the possible role of LBD genes in anthocyanin accumulations among green and purple cabbages (Brassica oleracea var. capitata), we determined sequence variations and expression levels of cabbage homologs of Arabidopsis LBD37, 38, and 39.

Genome-wide identification of GH3 genes in Brassica oleracea and identification of a promoter region for anther-specific expression of a GH3 gene.

Background: The Gretchen Hagen 3 (GH3) genes encode acyl acid amido synthetases, many of which have been shown to modulate the amount of active plant hormones or their precursors. GH3 genes, especially Group III subgroup 6 GH3 genes, and their expression patterns in economically important B. oleracea var.

Natural variation in glycine-rich region of Brassica oleracea cold shock domain protein 5 (BoCSDP5) is associated with low temperature tolerance.

Background: Low temperature (LT) or cold stress is a major environmental stress that seriously affects plant growth and development, limiting crop productivity. Cold shock domain proteins (CSDPs), which are present in most living organism, are involved in RNA metabolisms influencing abiotic stress tolerance.

Objective: The aims of this study are to identify target gene for LT-tolerance, like CSDPs, characterize genetics, and develop molecular marker distinguishing LT-tolerance in cabbage (Brassica oleracea var.

Identification of source-sink tissues in the leaf of Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis) by carbohydrate content and transcriptomic analysis.

Background: A leaf of Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis) is composed of a photosynthetic blade and a non-photosynthetic large midrib; thus each leaf contains both source and sink tissues. This structure suggests that, unlike in other plants, source-sink metabolism is present in a single leaf of Chinese cabbage.

Overexpression of Acyl-ACP Thioesterases, and , Induce Distinct Gene Expression Reprogramming in Developing Seeds of .

We examined the substrate preference of acyl-ACP thioesterases, and , and gene expression changes associated with the modification of lipid composition in the seed, using transgenic plants overexpressing or under the control of a seed-specific promoter. seeds contained a higher level of total saturated fatty acid (FA) content, with 4.3 times increase in 16:0 palmitic acid, whereas seeds showed approximately 3% accumulation of 10:0 and 12:0 medium-chain FAs, and a small increase in other saturated FAs, resulting in higher levels of total saturated FAs.

Transcriptomic analysis of contrasting inbred lines and F segregant of Chinese cabbage provides valuable information on leaf morphology.

Background: Leaf morphology influences plant growth and productivity and is controlled by genetic and environmental cues. The various morphotypes of Brassica rapa provide an excellent resource for genetic and molecular studies of morphological traits.

Objective: This study aimed to identify genes regulating leaf morphology using segregating B.

Genome-Wide Identification and Characterization of Warming-Related Genes in ssp. .

For sustainable crop cultivation in the face of global warming, it is important to unravel the genetic mechanisms underlying plant adaptation to a warming climate and apply this information to breeding. Thermomorphogenesis and ambient temperature signaling pathways have been well studied in model plants, but little information is available for vegetable crops. Here, we investigated genes responsive to warming conditions from two inbred lines with different geographic origins: subtropical (Kenshin) and temperate (Chiifu).

Purple Brassica oleracea var. capitata F. rubra is due to the loss of BoMYBL2-1 expression.

Background: Water-soluble anthocyanin pigments are important ingredients in health-improving supplements and valuable for the food industry. Although great attention has been paid to the breeding and production of crops containing high levels of anthocyanin, genetic variation in red or purple cabbages (Brassica oleracea var. capitata F.

Natural variation in CIRCADIAN CLOCK ASSOCIATED 1 is associated with flowering time in Brassica rapa.

Flowering time is a very important agronomic trait and the development of molecular markers associated with this trait can facilitate crop breeding. CIRCADIAN CLOCK ASSOCIATED 1 (CCA1), a core oscillator component of circadian rhythms that affect metabolic pathways in plants, has been implicated in flowering time control in species of Brassica. CCA1 gene sequences from three Brassica rapa inbred lines, showing either early flowering or late flowering phenotypes, were analyzed and a high level of sequence variation was identified, especially within the fourth intron.

Crystal structure of Arabidopsis thaliana SNC1 TIR domain.

Plant immune response is initiated by Resistance proteins (R proteins). Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domain in R proteins, which is responsible for the dimerization but has limited conservation in their primary structures. Suppressor of npr1-1, constitutive 1 (SNC1), a TIR-containing R protein, is involved in autoimmunity of plant, but the binding partner of SNC1 via the TIR domain and its specific cognate effector protein remain elusive.

GDSL esterase/lipase genes in Brassica rapa L.: genome-wide identification and expression analysis.

GDSL esterase/lipase proteins (GELPs), a very large subfamily of lipolytic enzymes, have been identified in microbes and many plants, but only a few have been characterized with respect to their roles in growth, development, and stress responses. In Brassica crops, as in many other species, genome-wide systematic analysis and functional studies of these genes are still lacking. As a first step to study their function in B.

Global Gene-Expression Analysis to Identify Differentially Expressed Genes Critical for the Heat Stress Response in Brassica rapa.

Genome-wide dissection of the heat stress response (HSR) is necessary to overcome problems in crop production caused by global warming. To identify HSR genes, we profiled gene expression in two Chinese cabbage inbred lines with different thermotolerances, Chiifu and Kenshin. Many genes exhibited >2-fold changes in expression upon exposure to 0.

Suppression of ASKβ (AtSK32), a Clade III Arabidopsis GSK3, Leads to the Pollen Defect during Late Pollen Development.

Arabidopsis Shaggy-like protein kinases (ASKs) are Arabidopsis thaliana homologs of glycogen synthase kinase 3/SHAGGY-like kinases (GSK3/SGG), which are comprised of 10 genes with diverse functions. To dissect the function of ASKβ (AtSK32), ASKβ antisense transgenic plants were generated, revealing the effects of ASKβ down-regulation in Arabidopsis. Suppression of ASKβ expression specifically interfered with pollen development and fertility without altering the plants' vegetative phenotypes, which differed from the phenotypes reported for Arabidopsis plants defective in other ASK members.

Structure of soybean serine acetyltransferase and formation of the cysteine regulatory complex as a molecular chaperone.

Serine acetyltransferase (SAT) catalyzes the limiting reaction in plant and microbial biosynthesis of cysteine. In addition to its enzymatic function, SAT forms a macromolecular complex with O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase. Formation of the cysteine regulatory complex (CRC) is a critical biochemical control feature in plant sulfur metabolism.

Probing the origins of glutathione biosynthesis through biochemical analysis of glutamate-cysteine ligase and glutathione synthetase from a model photosynthetic prokaryote.

Glutathione biosynthesis catalysed by GCL (glutamate-cysteine ligase) and GS (glutathione synthetase) is essential for maintaining redox homoeostasis and protection against oxidative damage in diverse eukaroytes and bacteria. This biosynthetic pathway probably evolved in cyanobacteria with the advent of oxygenic photosynthesis, but the biochemical characteristics of progenitor GCLs and GSs in these organisms are largely unexplored. In the present study we examined SynGCL and SynGS from Synechocystis sp.

Assessing functional diversity in the soybean β-substituted alanine synthase enzyme family.

In plants, proteins of the β-substituted alanine synthase (BSAS) enzyme family perform a diverse range of reactions, including formation of cysteine from O-acetylserine and sulfide, detoxification of cyanide by its addition to cysteine, the breakdown of cysteine into pyruvate, ammonia, and sulfide, and the synthesis of S-sulfocysteine. With the completed genome sequence of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.

Structure of soybean β-cyanoalanine synthase and the molecular basis for cyanide detoxification in plants.

Plants produce cyanide (CN-) during ethylene biosynthesis in the mitochondria and require β-cyanoalanine synthase (CAS) for CN- detoxification. Recent studies show that CAS is a member of the β-substituted alanine synthase (BSAS) family, which also includes the Cys biosynthesis enzyme O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase (OASS), but how the BSAS evolved distinct metabolic functions is not understood. Here we show that soybean (Glycine max) CAS and OASS form α-aminoacrylate reaction intermediates from Cys and O-acetylserine, respectively.

Structural and kinetic analysis of the unnatural fusion protein 4-coumaroyl-CoA ligase::stilbene synthase.

To increase the biochemical efficiency of biosynthetic systems, metabolic engineers have explored different approaches for organizing enzymes, including the generation of unnatural fusion proteins. Previous work aimed at improving the biosynthesis of resveratrol, a stilbene associated a range of health-promoting activities, in yeast used an unnatural engineered fusion protein of Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress) 4-coumaroyl-CoA ligase (At4CL1) and Vitis vinifera (grape) stilbene synthase (VvSTS) to increase resveratrol levels 15-fold relative to yeast expressing the individual enzymes. Here we present the crystallographic and biochemical analysis of the 4CL::STS fusion protein.

From sulfur to homoglutathione: thiol metabolism in soybean.

Sulfur is an essential plant nutrient and is metabolized into the sulfur-containing amino acids (cysteine and methionine) and into molecules that protect plants against oxidative and environmental stresses. Although studies of thiol metabolism in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress) have expanded our understanding of these dynamic processes, our knowledge of how sulfur is assimilated and metabolized in crop plants, such as soybean (Glycine max), remains limited in comparison. Soybean is a major crop used worldwide for food and animal feed.

Sensing sulfur conditions: simple to complex protein regulatory mechanisms in plant thiol metabolism.

Sulfur is essential for plant growth and development, and the molecular systems for maintaining sulfur and thiol metabolism are tightly controlled. From a biochemical perspective, the regulation of plant thiol metabolism highlights nature's ability to engineer pathways that respond to multiple inputs and cellular demands under a range of conditions. In this review, we focus on the regulatory mechanisms that form the molecular basis of biochemical sulfur sensing in plants by translating the intracellular concentration of sulfur-containing compounds into control of key metabolic steps.

Gene duplication and hypermutation of the pathogen Resistance gene SNC1 in the Arabidopsis bal variant.

The bal defect in the Arabidopsis thaliana Columbia strain was spontaneously generated in an inbred ddm1 (decrease in DNA methylation 1) mutant background in which various genetic and epigenetic alterations accumulate. The bal variant displays short stature and curled leaves due to the constitutive activation of defense signaling. These bal phenotypes are metastable and phenotypic suppression is evident in more than one-third of ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS)-treated bal M(1) plants.

Assembly of the cysteine synthase complex and the regulatory role of protein-protein interactions.

Macromolecular assemblies play critical roles in regulating cellular functions. The cysteine synthase complex (CSC), which is formed by association of serine O-acetyltransferase (SAT) and O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase (OASS), acts as a sensor and modulator of thiol metabolism by responding to changes in nutrient conditions. Here we examine the oligomerization and energetics of formation of the soybean CSC.

Phenotypic instability of Arabidopsis alleles affecting a disease Resistance gene cluster.

Background: Three mutations in Arabidopsis thaliana strain Columbia - cpr1, snc1, and bal - map to the RPP5 locus, which contains a cluster of disease Resistance genes. The similar phenotypes, gene expression patterns, and genetic interactions observed in these mutants are related to constitutive activation of pathogen defense signaling. However, these mutant alleles respond differently to various conditions.

A cluster of disease resistance genes in Arabidopsis is coordinately regulated by transcriptional activation and RNA silencing.

The RPP5 (for recognition of Peronospora parasitica 5) locus in the Arabidopsis thaliana Columbia strain contains a cluster of paralogous disease Resistance (R) genes that play important roles in innate immunity. Among the R genes in this locus, RPP4 confers resistance to two races of the fungal pathogen Hyaloperonospora parasitica, while activation of SNC1 (for suppressor of npr1-1, constitutive 1) results in the resistance to another race of H. parasitica and to pathovars of the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae through the accumulation of salicylic acid (SA).