N-myristoylation and S-acylation are common modifications of Ca -regulated Arabidopsis kinases and are required for activation of the SLAC1 anion channel.

N-myristoylation and S-acylation promote protein membrane association, allowing regulation of membrane proteins. However, how widespread this targeting mechanism is in plant signaling processes remains unknown. Through bioinformatics analyses, we determined that among plant protein kinase families, the occurrence of motifs indicative for dual lipidation by N-myristoylation and S-acylation is restricted to only five kinase families, including the Ca -regulated CDPK-SnRK and CBL protein families.

Identification and characterization of trans-3-hydroxy-l-proline dehydratase and Δ(1)-pyrroline-2-carboxylate reductase involved in trans-3-hydroxy-l-proline metabolism of bacteria.

trans-4-Hydroxy-l-proline (T4LHyp) and trans-3-hydroxy-l-proline (T3LHyp) occur mainly in collagen. A few bacteria can convert T4LHyp to α-ketoglutarate, and we previously revealed a hypothetical pathway consisting of four enzymes at the molecular level (J Biol Chem (2007) 282, 6685-6695; J Biol Chem (2012) 287, 32674-32688). Here, we first found that Azospirillum brasilense has the ability to grow not only on T4LHyp but also T3LHyp as a sole carbon source.

Distinct features of protein folding by the GroEL system from a psychrophilic bacterium, Colwellia psychrerythraea 34H.

We investigated the protein folding mechanism of the GroEL system of a psychrophilic bacterium, Colwellia psychrerythraea 34H. The amount of mRNA of the groESL operon of C. psychrerythraea was increased about 6-fold after a temperature upshift from 8 to 18 °C for 30 min, suggesting that this temperature causes heat stress in this bacterium.

The consensus motif for N-myristoylation of plant proteins in a wheat germ cell-free translation system.

Protein N-myristoylation plays key roles in various cellular functions in eukaryotic organisms. To clarify the relationship between the efficiency of protein N-myristoylation and the amino acid sequence of the substrate in plants, we have applied a wheat germ cell-free translation system with high protein productivity to examine the N-myristoylation of various wild-type and mutant forms of Arabidopsis thaliana proteins. Evaluation of the relationship between removal of the initiating Met and subsequent N-myristoylation revealed that constructs containing Pro at position 3 do not undergo N-myristoylation, primarily because of an inhibitory effect of this amino acid on elimination of the initiating Met by methionyl aminopeptidase.

Involvement of HMG-12 and CAR-1 in the cdc-48.1 expression of Caenorhabditis elegans.

Caenorhabditis elegans possesses two p97/VCP/Cdc48p homologues, named CDC-48.1 (C06A1.1) and CDC-48.

Differential expression pattern of UBX family genes in Caenorhabditis elegans.

UBX (ubiquitin regulatory X)-containing proteins belong to an evolutionary conserved protein family and determine the specificity of p97/VCP/Cdc48p function by binding as its adaptors. Caenorhabditis elegans was found to possess six UBX-containing proteins, named UBXN-1 to -6. However, no general or specific function of them has been revealed.

Comparative analysis of expression of two p97 homologues in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Caenorhabditis elegans possesses two p97/VCP/Cdc48p homologues, named CDC-48.1 (C06A1.1) and CDC-48.

The rpoH gene encoding heat shock sigma factor sigma32 of psychrophilic bacterium Colwellia maris.

The rpoH gene encoding a heat shock sigma factor, sigma(32), was cloned from the psychrophilic bacterium Colwellia maris. The deduced amino acid sequence of sigma(32) from C. maris is more than 60% homologous to that of sigma(32) from mesophilic bacteria.

Gene structure and transcriptional regulation of dnaK and dnaJ genes from a psychrophilic bacterium, Colwellia maris.

The dnaK and dnaJ genes, encoding heat shock proteins, were cloned from a psychrophilic bacterium, Colwellia maris. Significant homology was evident comparing DnaK and DnaJ of the psychrophilile with the counterparts of mesophilic and thermophilic bacteria. In the DnaJ protein, three conserved regions of the Hsp40 family were observed.

Gene structure and transcriptional regulation specific to the groESL operon from the psychrophilic bacterium Colwellia maris.

The groESL operon of a psychrophilic bacterium, Colwellia maris, was cloned and sequenced. The operon contains two ORFs of 291 bp and 1,650 bp separated by 210 bp. Northern blot analysis suggested that the groESL operon was transcribed as a bicistronic mRNA, and that the amount of mRNA markedly increased after the temperature was raised from 10 degrees C to 20 degrees C.