Prosthetic lipoyl groups are essential for the metabolic activity of several multienzyme complexes in most organisms. In plants, octanoyltransferase (LIP2) and lipoyl synthase (LIP1) enzymes in the mitochondria and plastids participate in the de novo synthesis of lipoic acid, and in the attachment of the lipoyl cofactors to their specific targets. In plastids, the lipoylated pyruvate dehydrogenase complex catalyzes the synthesis of the acetyl-CoA that is required for de novo fatty acid synthesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLipoyl synthases are key enzymes in lipoic acid biosynthesis, a co-factor of several enzyme complexes involved in central metabolism. Plant pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDH), located in mitochondria and plastids, catalyses the first step of fatty acid biosynthesis in these organelles. Among their different components, the E2 subunit requires the lipoic acid prosthetic group to be active.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOmega-7 monoenoic fatty acids (ω-7 FAs) are increasingly exploited both for their positive effects on health and for their industrial potential. Some plant species produce fruits or seeds with high amounts of ω-7 FAs. However, the low yields and poor agronomic properties of these plants preclude their commercial use.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn angiosperms, double fertilization of the embryo sac initiates the development of the embryo and the endosperm. In Arabidopsis thaliana, an exalbuminous species, the endosperm is reduced to one cell layer during seed maturation and reserves such as oil are massively deposited in the enlarging embryo. Here, we consider the strikingly different fatty acid (FA) compositions of the oils stored in the two zygotic tissues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the plastids of plant cells, fatty acid (FA) production is a central biosynthetic process. It provides acyl chains for the formation of a variety of acyl lipids fulfilling different biological functions ranging from membrane synthesis to signaling or carbon and energy storage. The biochemical pathway leading to the synthesis of FA has been described for a long time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe circadian clock temporally coordinates plant growth and metabolism in close synchronization with the diurnal and seasonal environmental changes. Research over the last decade has identified a number of clock components and a variety of regulatory mechanisms responsible for the rhythmic oscillations in metabolic and physiological activities. At the core of the clock, transcriptional/translational feedback loops modulate the expression of a significant proportion of the genome.
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