Co-ordinated expression of amino acid metabolism in response to N and S deficiency during wheat grain filling.

Increasing demands for productivity together with environmental concerns about fertilizer use dictate that the future sustainability of agricultural systems will depend on improving fertilizer use efficiency. Characterization of the biological processes responsible for efficient fertilizer use will provide tools for crop improvement under reduced inputs. Transcriptomic and metabolomic approaches were used to study the impact of nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S) deficiency on N and S remobilization from senescing canopy tissues during grain filling in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum).

Cloning and functional characterisation of a cis-muuroladiene synthase from black peppermint (Menthaxpiperita) and direct evidence for a chemotype unable to synthesise farnesene.

Using oligonucleotide primers designed to the known gene sequence of an (E)-beta-farnesene (EbetaF) synthase, two cDNA sequences (MxpSS1 and MxpSS2) were cloned from a black peppermint (Menthaxpiperita) plant. MxpSS1 encoded a protein with 96% overall amino acid sequence identity with the EbetaF synthase. Recombinant MxpSS1 produced in Escherichia coli, after removal of an N-terminal thioredoxin fusion, had a K(m) for FPP of 1.

Analysis of detergent-resistant membranes in Arabidopsis. Evidence for plasma membrane lipid rafts.

The trafficking and function of cell surface proteins in eukaryotic cells may require association with detergent-resistant sphingolipid- and sterol-rich membrane domains. The aim of this work was to obtain evidence for lipid domain phenomena in plant membranes. A protocol to prepare Triton X-100 detergent-resistant membranes (DRMs) was developed using Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) callus membranes.