Engineered reduction of S-adenosylmethionine alters lignin in sorghum.

Background: Lignin is an aromatic polymer deposited in secondary cell walls of higher plants to provide strength, rigidity, and hydrophobicity to vascular tissues. Due to its interconnections with cell wall polysaccharides, lignin plays important roles during plant growth and defense, but also has a negative impact on industrial processes aimed at obtaining monosaccharides from plant biomass. Engineering lignin offers a solution to this issue.

Correction to "Expression of Dehydroshikimate Dehydratase in Sorghum Improves Biomass Yield, Accumulation of Protocatechuate, and Biorefinery Economics".

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c01160.

Overexpression of the rice BAHD acyltransferase AT10 increases xylan-bound p-coumarate and reduces lignin in Sorghum bicolor.

Background: The development of bioenergy crops with reduced recalcitrance to enzymatic degradation represents an important challenge to enable the sustainable production of advanced biofuels and bioproducts. Biomass recalcitrance is partly attributed to the complex structure of plant cell walls inside which cellulose microfibrils are protected by a network of hemicellulosic xylan chains that crosslink with each other or with lignin via ferulate (FA) bridges. Overexpression of the rice acyltransferase OsAT10 is an effective bioengineering strategy to lower the amount of FA involved in the formation of cell wall crosslinks and thereby reduce cell wall recalcitrance.

Biofilm Formation by Clinical Isolates is Differentially Affected by Glucose and Sodium Chloride Supplemented Culture Media.

() causes persistent biofilm-related infections. Biofilm formation by is affected by the culture conditions and is associated with certain genotypic characteristics. Here, we show that glucose and sodium chloride (NaCl) supplementation of culture media, a common practice in studies of biofilms , influences both biofilm formation by 40 clinical isolates (methicillin-resistant and methicillin-sensitive ) and causes variations in biofilm quantification.

Engineering of Sn-porphyrin networks on the silica surface: sensing of nitrophenols in water.

Sn-porphyrin networks were engineered on the surface of a thin layer chromatography (TLC) plate via Sonogashira coupling of the Sn-porphyrin building block and 1,4-diiodobenzene. The Sn-porphyrin film showed a strong Soret band absorption at 422 nm, emission at 600-630 nm, and excellent sensing performance toward nitrophenols in water.

Porphyrin entrapment and release behavior of microporous organic hollow spheres: fluorescent alerting systems for existence of organic solvents in water.

This work reports on the controllable guest entrapment and release behavior of microporous organic hollow spheres (MOHs). Porphyrins which are soluble in both water and methanol were entrapped in the MOHs using methanol solution. The water-soluble porphyrins entrapped in MOHs were not extracted by water due to the hydrophobicity of microporous organic shells.

Optimization of culture media for large-scale lutein production by heterotrophic Chlorella vulgaris.

Lutein is a carotenoid with a purported role in protecting eyes from oxidative stress, particularly the high-energy photons of blue light. Statistical optimization was performed to growth media that supports a higher production of lutein by heterotrophically cultivated Chlorella vulgaris. The effect of media composition of C.

In planta biocatalysis screen of P450s identifies 8-methoxypsoralen as a substrate for the CYP82C subfamily, yielding original chemical structures.

An in vivo plant screen that allows for the analysis of exogenously applied substrates against transgenic Arabidopsis lines overexpressing individual cytochrome P450s has been developed. By deploying this screen with a subset of 91 P450s, we have identified an original substrate for members of the CYP82C subfamily. The therapeutic compound 8-methoxypsoralen was hydroxylated by plants overexpressing CYP82C2 or CYP82C4, forming 5-hydroxy-8-methoxypsoralen.

Enhancement of alkaloid production in opium and California poppy by transactivation using heterologous regulatory factors.

Genes encoding regulatory factors isolated from Arabidopsis, soybean and corn have been screened to identify those that modulate the expression of genes encoding for enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of morphinan alkaloids in opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) and benzophenanthridine alkaloids in California poppy (Eschscholzia californica). In opium poppy, the over-expression of selected regulatory factors increased the levels of PsCOR (codeinone reductase), Ps4'OMT (S-adenosyl-l-methionine:3'-hydroxy-N-methylcoclaurine 4'-O-methyltransferase) and Ps6OMT [(R,S)-norcoclaurine 6-O-methyltransferase] transcripts by 10- to more than 100-fold. These transcriptional activations translated into an enhancement of alkaloid production in opium poppy of up to at least 10-fold.

Detection and quantitation of resveratrol in tomato fruit (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.).

Resveratrol is a stilbene phytoalexin well-known for its presence in grape, wine, and peanut. As a result of its antioxidant and chemopreventative properties, it has gained much attention as a functional food ingredient. A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method for the detection of resveratrol, its 3-glucopyranoside piceid, and the cis isomers of both compounds has been developed and used to quantitate the levels of these compounds in the skin of commercially available tomato fruit (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.

Antiinflammatory activity of Synurus deltoides.

Synurus deltoides Aiton, Nakai, is an edible plant that has been used as a folk medicine for treating inflammatory disorders. This investigation was carried out to establish the antiinflammatory activity of this plant material using a 75% ethanol extract from the aerial part of S. deltoides.

Extended leaf longevity in the ore4-1 mutant of Arabidopsis with a reduced expression of a plastid ribosomal protein gene.

The longevity of plant leaf organs is genetically determined. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the control of longevity are still largely unknown. Here, we describe a T-DNA-insertional mutation of Arabidopsis thaliana that confers extended leaf longevity.

A knock-out mutation in allene oxide synthase results in male sterility and defective wound signal transduction in Arabidopsis due to a block in jasmonic acid biosynthesis.

Recent studies on jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthetic mutants have shown that jasmonates play essential roles in pollen maturation and dehiscence and wound-induced defence against biotic attacks. To better understand the biosynthetic mechanisms of this essential plant hormone, we isolated an Arabidopsis knock-out mutant defective in the JA biosynthetic gene CYP74A (allene oxide synthase, AOS) using reverse genetics screening methods. This enzyme catalyses dehydration of the hydroperoxide to an unstable allene oxide in the JA biosynthetic pathway.