Hardware-acceleration techniques continue to be used to boost the performance of scientific codes. To do so, software developers identify portions of these codes that are amenable for offloading and map them to hardware accelerators. However, offloading such tasks to specialized hardware accelerators is non-trivial. Furthermore, these accelerators can add significant cost to a computing system. Consequently, this thesis proposes a framework called GePSeA (General Purpose Software Acceleration Framework), which uses a small fraction of the computational power on multi-core architectures to offload complex application-specific tasks. Specifically, GePSeA provides a lightweight process that acts as a helper agent to the application by executing application-specific tasks asynchronously and efficiently. GePSeA is not meant to replace hardware accelerators but to extend them. GePSeA provide several utilities called core components that offload tasks on to the core or to the special-purpose hardware when available in a way that is transparent to the application. Examples of such core components include reliable communication service, distributed lock management, global memory management, dynamic load distribution and network protocol processing. We then apply the GePSeA framework to two applications, namely mpiBLAST, an open-source computational biology application and Reliable Blast UDP (RBUDP) based file transfer application. We observe significant speed-up for both applications. / Master of Science

In previous work, mouse lines were selected for resistance (R) or for susceptibility (S) to fescue toxicosis based upon reductions in post-weaning growth rate caused by an endophyte-infected diet. The first objective of the current experiment was to determine whether long term reproduction of S mice was more severely depressed than that of R mice by the toxic diet. The second objective was to quantify glutathione-S-epoxytransferase (GST) and uridine diphosphate glucuronosyl-transferase (UDPGT) activities in R and S dams form the experiment and to determine whether reproduction during continuous cohabitation and liver detoxification enzyme activities were correlated within line x diet groups. Effects of the toxic diet were detectable within the first litters produced. Reproduction was more seriously influenced by the toxic diet within the S line than within the R line when these measures were compared within four equal time phases. The effects of the toxic diet on reproduction were greatest early in the experiment; by the fourth time phase differences among line x diet groups, with the exception of litter weight, were not significant. Percentage differences in total reproduction were greater between S mice fed the non-toxic diet and S mice fed the toxic diet than those between the R mice fed the non-toxic and toxic diets. Averaged across diets, GST activities were higher in R mice, but UDPGT activities were not significant. Within R line mice, GST was correlated with three reproductive measures, but UDPGT activity was not correlated with reproduction within any line x diet group. / Master of Science

This thesis shows advancements towards the development of engineered bacteria for sensing and responding to environmental pollutants by exploring the use of UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs) for their metabolism of toxins, along with the use of engineered tetracycline repressor protein (TetR) based transcriptional regulators as sensors for environmental toxins. The importance and applicability of UGTs as well as the adaptability of TetR systems for future developments are shown through a function-based review of UGTs, the development of high-throughput fluorescent UGT assay technique, and the creation of novel TetR transcription regulatory sequences. The assays effectively measured UGT71G1 activity based on the presence of reaction byproducts, leading to the identification of several new substrates including the toxin bisphenol A. Next, hybrid TetRs were assembled from complementary DNA-binding and ligand-binding domains of TetR homologs. The ability to interchange these domains while retaining their function multiplies the unique TetR systems available for use in cellular systems. In future, novel TetR and UGT71G1 systems may be developed to detect and respond to substrates like bisphenol A.

Even though the structure of the plant cell wall is by and large quite well characterized, its synthesis and regulation remains largely obscure. However, it is accepted that the building blocks of the polysaccharidic part of the plant cell wall are nucleotide sugars. Thus to gain more insight into the cell wall biosynthesis, in the first part of this thesis, plant genes possibly involved in the nucleotide sugar interconversion pathway were identified using a bioinformatics approach and characterized in plants, mainly in Arabidopsis. For the computational identification profile hidden markov models were extracted from the Pfam and TIGR databases. Mainly with these, plant genes were identified facilitating the “hmmer” program. Several gene families were identified and three were further characterized, the UDP-rhamnose synthase (RHM), UDP-glucuronic acid epimerase (GAE) and the myo-inositol oxygenase (MIOX) families. For the three-membered RHM family relative ubiquitous expression was shown using variuos methods. For one of these genes, RHM2, T-DNA lines could be obtained. Moreover, the transcription of the whole family was downregulated facilitating an RNAi approach. In both cases a alteration of cell wall typic polysaccharides and developmental changes could be shown. In the case of the rhm2 mutant these were restricted to the seed or the seed mucilage, whereas the RNAi plants showed profound changes in the whole plant. In the case of the six-membered GAE family, the gene expressed to the highest level (GAE6) was cloned, expressed heterologously and its function was characterized. Thus, it could be shown that GAE6 encodes for an enzyme responsible for the conversion of UDP-glucuronic acid to UDP-galacturonic acid. However, a change in transcript level of variuos GAE family members achieved by T-DNA insertions (gae2, gae5, gae6), overexpression (GAE6) or an RNAi approach, targeting the whole family, did not reveal any robust changes in the cell wall. Contrary to the other two families the MIOX gene family had to be identified using a BLAST based approach due to the lack of enough suitable candidate genes for building a hidden markov model. An initial bioinformatic characterization was performed which will lead to further insights into this pathway. In total it was possible to identify the two gene families which are involved in the synthesis of the two pectin backbone sugars galacturonic acid and rhamnose. Moreover with the identification of the MIOX genes a genefamily, important for the supply of nucleotide sugar precursors was identified. In a second part of this thesis publicly available microarray datasets were analyzed with respect to co-responsive behavior of transcripts on a global basis using nearly 10,000 genes. The data has been made available to the community in form of a database providing additional statistical and visualization tools (http://csbdb.mpimp-golm.mpg.de). Using the framework of the database to identify nucleotide sugar converting genes indicated that co-response might be used for identification of novel genes involved in cell wall synthesis based on already known genes. / Obwohl der Aufbau der pflanzlichen Zellwand im Großen und Ganzen relativ gut charakterisiert ist, ist relativ wenig über ihre Synthese bekannt. Allgemein akzeptiert ist jedoch, dass die Nukleotidzucker die Vorstufe für den polysaccharidären Teil der Zellwand stellen. Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden neue Kandidatengene für die Zellwandbiosynthese mittels bioinformatorischer Analysen ermittelt und deren Rolle in Pflanzen, hauptsächlich Arabidopsis thaliana untersucht. Zur Identifizierung von Arabidopsis thaliana Kandidatengenen des Nukleotidzucker-Stoffwechselweges wurden „hidden Markov Modelle“ für Gene desselben aus den Datenbanken Pfam und TIGR extrahiert. Unter anderem wurden diese dann unter Zuhilfenahme des Programms hmmer zur Identifikation von pflanzlichen Genen benutzt. Es wurden einige Genfamilien identifiziert und drei von diesen wurden weiter charakterisiert. Hierbei handelte sich um eine UDP-Rhamnose Synthase Familie (RHM), eine UDP-Glucuronsäurepimerase Familie (GAE) und eine myo-Inositol Oxygenase Familie (MIOX). Für die RHM Kandidatengenfamilie, mit drei Mitgliedern, wurde die relativ ubiquitäre Expression aller Gene mittels verschiedener Methoden gezeigt und für eines der Gene, RHM2, konnten T-DNA Linien bezogen werden. Außerdem wurde die Transkription der gesamten Familie mittels eines RNAi Konstruktes herunter geregelt. In beiden Fällen konnte eine Veränderung von zellwandtypischen Polysacchariden sowie schwere Entwicklungsstörungen gezeigt werden. Diese waren bei der rhm2 Funktionsverlustpflanze auf den Samenschleim bzw. den Samen reduziert, bei den RNAi Pflanzen hingegen war die gesamte Pflanze betroffen. Im Falle der zweiten Kandidatengenfamilie, GAE, wurde das höchst-exprimierte Gen (GAE6) kloniert, heterolog exprimiert und die Funktion charakterisiert. So konnte gezeigt werden, dass GAE6 für ein Enzym kodiert, welches UDP-Glukuronsäure in UDP-Galakturonsäure wandelt. Allerdings zeigten Pflanzen mit veränderter Transkriptmenge, erreicht durch T-DNA Insertionen (gae2, gae5, gae6), Überexpression (GAE6) oder RNAi / keine robuste Veränderung der Zellwand. Die letzte betrachtete Kandiatengenfamilie myo-Inositol Oxygenase wurde im Gegensatz zu den beiden anderen Familien, durch eine BLAST Suche gefunden, da zur Zeit der Durchführung noch zu wenig myo-inositol Oxygenasen bekannt waren, um daraus „hidden Markov Modelle“ abzuleiten. Dennoch konnten erste bioinformatorische Analysen zu dieser Genfamilie gemacht werden. Insgesamt gesehen wurden in diesem Teil der Arbeit die beiden Genfamilien identifiziert und charkterisiert, die bei der Synthese der beiden Pektinrückgradzucker Rhamnose und Galakturonsäure die tragende Rolle spielen. Weiterhin wurde mit der Identifizierung der MIOX Genfamilie, eine Genfamilie identifiziert, die wichtige Vorstufen in der Synthese der Nukleotidzucker liefert. In einem zweiten Teil der Arbeit wurden öffentlich zugängliche Mikroarray-Daten durch ihr Gleich -oder Ungleichverhalten charakterisiert. Dieses erfolgte auf globaler Ebene für zunächst fast 10.000 Gene. Die Daten wurden in Form einer allgemein zugänglichen Datenbank der Allgemeinheit zur Verfügung gestellt (http://csbdb.mpimp-golm.mpg.de). Eine Anwendung der Methode auf Gene des Nukleotidzuckerstoffwechsels, deutet darauf hin, dass so neue Kandiatengene, die bei der Zellwandsynthese eine Rolle spielen, von bereits bekannten Genen abgeleitet werden können.

La fusariose des épis est l’une des principales maladies des céréales, majoritairement causée par le champignon pathogène et toxinogène, Fusarium graminearum (Fg). Lors son développement in planta, le champignon produit des mycotoxines dommageables pour la santé humaine et animale, dont le déoxynivalénol (DON). De nombreux loci à effet quantitatif sur la résistance à Fg ont été identifiés chez le blé tendre. Certains d’entre eux ont été corrélés à la capacité à détoxifier le DON, en particulier par glucosylation sous l’action d’UDP-glucosyltransférases (UGT). Une UGT d’orge impliquée dans la conjugaison du DON a été identifiée en système hétérologue. Brachypodium distachyon (Bd) a récemment émergé comme modèle d’étude pour les céréales. Ce travail à l’aide d’approches transcriptomique et métabolomique a mis en évidence que lors de l’interaction avec Fg, Bd met en place des réponses macroscopiques, moléculaires et métaboliques similaires à celles connues chez le blé et l’orge. La recherche d’UGTs candidates capables de conjuguer le DON en DON-3-O-glucoside (D3G) chez Bd a permis l’identification d’un candidat. L’analyse fonctionnelle du gène correspondant a été conduite par des approches de mutagenèse et de surexpression. Ceci a montré une sensibilité accrue des lignées mutantes à la toxine et à l’agent pathogène. A l’inverse les lignées surexpresseurs ont montré une tolérance et résistance quantitative à la toxine et l’agent pathogène. Ces résultats ont été corrélés par la détection in planta de DON et D3G, dans des proportions variables selon les lignées. Ces résultats démontrent le rôle majeur que joue la glucosylation du DON dans l’établissement de la résistance observée chez Bd en réponse à Fg. / Fusarium head blight is a major cereal disease, mostly caused by the pathogenic and toxin-producing fungus, Fusarium graminearum (Fg). During its development in planta, the fungus produces mycotoxins harmful to human and animal health, including deoxynivalenol (DON). Many quantitative trait loci exhibiting an effect on resistance to Fg have been identified in wheat. Some of them were correlated with the ability to detoxify DON, particularly by glucosylation by UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGT). A barley UGT involved in the conjugation of DON was identified in a heterologous system. Brachypodium distachyon (Bd) has recently emerged as a model species for cereals. Using transcriptomic and metabolomic approaches, we show that when interacting with Fg, Bd implements macroscopic, molecular and metabolic responses similar to those known in wheat and barley. The search for UGT candidates able to conjugate DON into DON-3-O-glucoside (D3G) in Bd resulted in the identification of the Bradi5g03300 gene. Functional analyses of this gene showed increased sensitivity of the mutant lines to the toxin and to the pathogen. Conversely the overexpressor lines showed a tolerance to the toxin and quantitative resistance to Fg. These results were correlated with the detection of differential amounts of DON and D3G in the different lines. These results demonstrate the important role of DON glucosylation in the resistance establishment of Bd observed in response to Fg.

Since 2012 Google has been developing a new transport protocol called QUIC (Quick UDP Internet Connections). The purpose of the QUIC-protocol is to speed up the web and first of all produce lower response time on websites. This is interesting in several perspectives. First of all, this is good news for the common user that browse the web but also in an economical perspective. Studies show that quicker response time on websites attracts customers both short term and long term which is important in areas as e-commerce. On top of this the Internet alone (home computers, data centers etc.) stands for about 10% of the worlds electricity consumption and a quicker and more effective transport protocol could contribute to lower this number since a lot of data is transferred through the Internet each day. QUIC is already in use by many of Google´s servers and can be used when browsing the web in a chrome or Opera browser. This means that many people have already been in touch with QUIC unknowingly. This degree project focuses on the main problems which makes the QUICprotocol needed and compares QUIC to TCP. TCP has been the dominating transport protocol regarding reliable data transmission for decades and still is. In this project an environment for testing is implemented which makes it possible to compare response time for websites. Two different tests are made where different common internet conditions are simulated to see how these conditions effects the response time for each protocol. The tests have shown that QUIC and TCP are pretty much equal regarding response time when the delay is 100 ms or less and there is no packet loss. When the delay exceeds 100 ms have our tests shown that QUIC delivers quicker response times. The tests have also shown that QUIC is superior to TCP when data is transferred over a connection with packet losses. Although it can be questioned if we could have optimized our TCP-server to compete with QUIC in a better way. / Google utvecklar sedan 2012 ett nytt pålitligt transportprotokoll, QUIC (Quick UDP Internet Connections). Syftet med detta är att göra webben ”snabbare” genom att bland annat minska svarstider för hemsidor. Detta är intressant ur en mängd perspektiv. Dels ur användarsynpunkt vid surf på webben men även ur ett rent ekonomiskt perspektiv då forskning visar att snabbare hemsidor lockar fler kunder både på kort och lång sikt vilket är intressant inom t ex. ehandel. Dessutom beräknas Internet stå för ungefär 10% av all elkonsumtion på hela planeten och ett snabbare och effektivare transportprotokoll kan förhoppningsvis bidra till att förbättra den siffran. QUIC används redan idag på flera av Googles egna servrar och uppkopplad mot Internet med webbläsaren Chrome eller Opera har användaren med stor sannolikhet redan stött på QUIC utan att veta om det. Detta arbete fokuserar på några av de problem som ligger som grund för vad QUIC är tänkt att förbättra och jämförs sedan med transportprotokollet TCP som har varit standardprotokollet för pålitlig dataöverföring i decennier. I arbetet upprättas en testmiljö som gör det möjligt att mäta svarstider på en webbklient för de olika protokollen vid olika simulerade förhållanden. Testerna går ut på att variera fördröjning och paketförluster för att se hur detta påverkar svarstiderna för respektive protokoll. Jämförelsen har resulterat i att QUIC och TCP är jämna i avseende på svarstider då inga paketförluster förekommer och fördröjningen är 100 ms eller lägre. Däremot när fördröjningen ökar till en nivå över den genomsnittliga fördröjningen överstiger 100 ms så pekar våra tester på att QUIC levererar snabbare svarstider. Dessutom har testerna visat att QUIC är överlägset TCP gällande svarstider då paketförluster förekommer. Det kan dock ifrågasättas huruvida vår TCP-server hade kunnat optimerats för hålla jämnare steg med QUIC.

Introduction Estrogen-induced cholestasis is a disease characterized by a failure of bile flow and bile production. It can develop in women after oral contraceptives use, hormone replacement therapy or during pregnancy. The estrogen metabolism is a complex process leading to formation of metabolites with different biological activities. It takes place primarily in the liver (Phase I and Phase II including hydroxylation, methylation, sulfation and glucuronidation). The enzymes from UDP-glucuronosyltransferases family , abbreviated UGT, are responsible for the glucuronidation of estrogens. Aims The objective of my work is to define estrogen metabolism and gene expression of UGT1A1, CYP1A2 and SULT1A1 and characterize cholestatic liver damage in the UGT1A1 deficient rat strain (Gunn rats) compared to rats with normal enzyme activity and try to define possible mechanisms responsible for the liver damage. Methods Adult female Gunn and corresponding heterozygous rats were treated with ethinylestradiol (EE, 5 mg/kg body weight SC) for 5 days, while control rats received propanediol (vehicle). Day six, the animals were sacrificed and plasma and liver tissue were collected for analysis. Markers of cholestasis and liver damage ALP, AST, ALT and bilirubin were determined using an automatic analyzer, total...

Submitted by Ricardo Cedraz Duque Moliterno (ricardo.moliterno@uefs.br) on 2015-07-27T21:18:33Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertac?o Jos? Jorge Silva Junior.pdf: 3038189 bytes, checksum: be43dcbd4f764e08ab18fd95a388e950 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-27T21:18:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertac?o Jos? Jorge Silva Junior.pdf: 3038189 bytes, checksum: be43dcbd4f764e08ab18fd95a388e950 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-07-31 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior - CAPES / Pests are responsible for high losses in cocoa production in Brazil and other countries, among them the witches' broom (WB) is one of the most important and destructive to the cocoa, even causing losses of up to 95% of production. This plague has spread very easily in the state of Bahia due to environmental conditions that provided the spread of WB, caused by the fungus Moniliophthora pernicious. Several chemical compounds have been tested in order to prevent or eradicate WB, however it has not showed good results, so the present study aimed to perform in silico assays were obtained in order to identify inhibitors of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase (UNAcP) of M. perniciosa. For achieve this goal, computational methods have been employed in the search for new inhibitors for UNAcP where different stages of research and evaluation were performed. The initial stage of virtual screening consisted of the choice of the scoring function, thus the following scoring functions were evaluated: Broyden Fletcher Goldfarb Shanno (BFGS) present in AutoDock VINA 1.1.2; Grid and Grid Score Score+Hawkins GB/SA both present in DOCK 6.5 and calculate the consensus score. The results were analyzed by calculating Enrichment Factor (EF) analysis of the ROC curve and its respective Area under an ROC curve (AUC). The Grid Score presented EF(5)=7.85. The ROC curve analysis allowed us to observe that the Grid Score function can identify almost 40% of active molecules with less than 10% of the database (false positive and active molecules), AUC analysis demonstrated that the Grid Score has greater accuracy (AUC=0.87). Thus, these results showed what the Grid Score was the best scoring function for this system. A database composed of molecules derived from natural sources was also used. The top ten results of virtual screening of the DOCK6.5 underwent online platform ChemGPS-NP, for the calculation of chemical descriptors. Thus, the molecules were re-categorized, based on the values of the Grid Score DOCK6.5 and chemical descriptors ChemGPS-NP. The results indicate the ZINC68592326 molecule his the best score and the analysis indicates that this has hydrophobic interactions with Ala380, Gln113, Gly112, Gly381, Ser168, Arg383, Pro221 and hydrogen bond interaction (3.32?) with Asn224. The virtual screening database of molecules derived from natural products research allowed with a universe of structures with very different characteristics. It was possible to obtain molecules with great structural diversity between the top ranking, however, also found very similar to the reference molecules. The use of chemometric methods is considered very useful and allows a systematic and consistent choice of structures, mainly by taking into account chemical descriptors and molecular characteristics, allowing for a more detailed evaluation. / Pragas s?o respons?veis por elevadas perdas na produ??o de cacau no Brasil e no mundo, dentre elas a vassoura-de-bruxa (VB) ? uma das mais importantes e destrutivas para o cacaueiro, chegando a causar perdas de at? 95% da produ??o. Essa praga disseminou-se muito facilmente no estado da Bahia devido a condi??es ambientais que proporcionaram a propaga??o da VB, causada pelo fungo Moniliophthora perniciosa. Diversos compostos qu?micos v?m sendo testados com o objetivo de prevenir ou erradicar a VB, por?m n?o foram obtidos bons resultados, portanto, o presente trabalho teve como principal objetivo realizar ensaios in silico, a fim de identificar inibidores da UDP-N-acetilglicosamina pirofosforilase (UNAcP) do M. perniciosa. Para tanto, foram empregados m?todos computacionais na busca de novos inibidores para a UNAcP, onde foram realizadas diferentes etapas de busca e avalia??o. A etapa inicial da triagem virtual consistiu na escolha da fun??o de pontua??o, assim, foram avaliadas as seguintes fun??es de pontua??o: Broyden?Fletcher?Goldfarb?Shanno (BFGS) presente no AUTODOCK VINA 1.1.2; Grid Score e Grid Score+Hawkins GB/SA ambos presentes no DOCK 6.5 e o c?lculo do escore de consenso. Os resultados foram analisados atrav?s do c?lculo de Fator de Enriquecimento (FE), analise da curva ROC e sua respectiva ?rea Sobre a Curva (AUC). O Grid Score apresentou FE(5)=7,85. A an?lise da curva ROC permitiu observar que a fun??o Grid Score consegue identificar quase 40% das mol?culas ativas com menos de 10% do banco de dados (mol?culas ativas e falso positivos), a an?lise da AUC demonstrou que o Grid Score tem maior exatid?o (AUC=0,87). Assim os resultados da avalia??o apontaram o Grid Score como melhor fun??o de pontua??o para esse sistema. Foi utilizado um banco de dados composto por mol?culas oriundas de fontes naturais. Os dez melhores resultados da triagem virtual feita no DOCK6.5 foram submetidos ? plataforma on line ChemGPS-NP, para o c?lculo dos descritores qu?micos. Assim, as mol?culas foram recategorizadas, baseando-se nos valores do Grid Score do DOCK6.5 e descritores qu?micos do ChemGPS-NP. Os resultados apontaram a mol?cula ZINC68592326 com a melhor pontua??o, a an?lise das intera??es intermoleculares indica que est? mol?cula apresenta intera??es hidrof?bicas com os res?duos Ala380, Gln113, Gli112, Gli381, Ser168, Arg383, Pro221 e liga??o de hidrog?nio do tipo aceptora com dist?ncia de 3,32? com o res?duo Asn224. A triagem virtual em banco de dados de mol?culas oriundas de produtos naturais permitiu a investiga??o com um universo de estruturas com caracter?sticas muito diversas. Foi poss?vel obter mol?culas com grande diversidade estrutural entre os primeiros do ranking, por?m, foram encontradas tamb?m mol?culas muito similares ?s mol?culas de refer?ncia. A utiliza??o de m?todos quimiom?tricos, ? considerada muito ?til e permitem uma escolha sistem?tica e consistente das estruturas, principalmente por levar em considera??o, descritores qu?micos e caracter?sticas moleculares, permitindo uma avalia??o mais criteriosa.

A parede celular vegetal, estrutura essencial para as plantas, é extremamente importante para a economia humana, já que apresenta diversas utilidades, como por exemplo, fabricação de papel, fibras de vestuário, construção civil, entre outras. A maior parte da parede celular vegetal primária (aproximadamente 90%), é formada por polissacarídeos como celulose, hemiceluloses e pectinas. Os monossacarídeos, unidades formadoras dos polissacarídeos, são sintetizados, nas plantas, a partir de diferentes açúcares nucleotídeos, sendo que, o suprimento desses, pode afetar a biossíntese dos polissacarídeos da parede celular. Visando analisar o impacto da alteração do fluxo metabólico do carbono na composição da parede celular, o presente projeto de pesquisa teve como objetivo alterar a composição dos polissacarídeos da parede celular de Nicotiana tabcum, através da modulação da expressão do gene uxs, responsável pela codificação da enzima UDP-D-glucuronato descarboxilase (UDPGlcADC, EC 4.1.1.35) que converte UDP-D-glucuronato em UDP-D-xilose, importante açúcar nucleotídeo, precursor do monossacarídeo xilose. Para isso, após a clonagem do gene uxs de ervilha, foram obtidas plantas transgênicas de tabaco superexpressando esse gene. Diversas análises foram realizadas para determinação da composição química da parede celular primária e secundária dessas plantas. Pela análise de FTIR da parede celular primária, verificou-se que três linhagens transgênicas apresentaram espectrotipos consistentes, indicando uma redução na quantidade de pectinas e ligações ésteres carboxílica nessas linhagens transgênicas. Apesar de não terem sido detectadas alterações na proporção dos monossacarídeos ramnose, xilose, arabinose, manose e galactose, e na quantidade de celulose, na parede celular primária das plantas transgênicas, foram observadas diferenças na proporção de galactose não esterificada, nas linhagens que apresentaram espectrotipo. Com relação à parede celular secundária, observou-se que algumas linhagens transgênicas apresentaram maior concentração de lignina solúvel relacionada a uma redução no conteúdo de lignina insolúvel. / The plant cell wall is not only an essential structure for plants, but also an extremely important raw material in human economy. The plant cell wall has diverse utilities, for example, papermaking, textile fiber, civil construction. Polysaccharides, such as cellulose, hemicelluloses and pectins, are the major components of the primary plant cell wall (approximately 90%). These polysaccharides are formed by monosaccharides, which are synthesized in the plant from different nucleotide sugars. The suppliment of the nucleotide sugars can affect plant cell wall polysaccharides biosynthesis. Aiming at analyzing the impact of the alteration in the metabolic carbon flux on cell wall composition, the objective of this research project was to alterate the plant cell wall polysaccharides composition by the modulation of the uxs gene. This gene encodes the UDP-D-glucuronic acid decarboxylase enzyme (UDPGlcADC, EC 4.1.1.35) that promotes the conversion of UDP-D-glucuronic acid to UDP-D-xylose, an important sugar nucleotide precursor of xylose monosaccharide. To achieve this goal, the pea uxs gene was cloned and transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing this gene were obtained. Several analyses were performed to determinate the primary and secondary cell wall composition of those transgenic plants. The primary cell wall analysis by FTIR identified three transgenic lines that show different spectrotypes compared to wild type and those transgenic spectrotypes had the same features. The results indicate a reduction of pectin and ester carbonyl binding in the transgenic plants. No alterations were detected in the monosaccharide (rhamnose, xylose, arabinose, manose and galactose) proportions and the amount of cellulose in the primary cell wall of the transgenic plants. Nevertheless, differences in the proportion of unesterified galactose were observed in the same transgenic lines that showed spectrotypes. With regard to secondary cell wall, some transgenic lines showed an increase in soluble lignin which is related to a reduction in insoluble lignin.

The Arabidopsis thaliana glycosyltransferase UGT72B1 is one of many enzymes which catalyze the reaction oflinking a glucose moiety from UDP-glucose to an acceptor molecule, in this case a chloroaniline or a chlorophenol. This is part of a detoxification system of the plant cell, similar to that in humans where a glucuronosyltransferases are enabling drug metabolism. It would be of interest to investigate the activity of the human enzyme towards different pharmaceuticals and determine the effect the linkage of glucose has to properties of the compounds. However, the human enzymes are membrane proteins and thus difficult to purify and crystallize. Here, an attempt was made to instead change the substrate specificity of UGT72B1 from UDPglucose to UDP-glucuronic acid. Combination of the four point mutations G18S, P139R, W367S and AG387ED were introduced in UGT72B1. However, no UDP-glucuronic acid activity was obtained. Single mutants W367S and AG387ED retained similar activity as of the wildtype while P139R had highly reduced activity and G18S was not expressed at all. All other combinations of mutations resulted in even less activity. Four chimeric proteins were also constructed. They were combinations of the UGT72B1 and the human enzyme UGT2B4. These were all soluble proteins but no activity could be determined. / Glykosyltransferaset UGT72B1 från Arabidopsis thaliana är ett av många enzymer som katalyserar reaktionen där en glukosenhet från UDP-glukos länkas till en acceptormolekyl, i det här fallet en kloranilin eller en klorfenol. Det är en del av ett detoxifieringssytem i växtcellen, som liknar det i människan, där ett glukuronosyltransferas möjliggör nedbrytning av bl.a. läkemedel. Det vore intressant att kunna undersöka de humana enzymernas aktivitet mot olika läkemedel och även fastställa effekten glukoslänkningen har på dessa substansers egenskaper. De humana enzymerna är dock membranprotein och är därför svåra att rena fram och att kristallisera. Här har istället ett försök gjorts för att ändra substratspecificiteten hos UGT72B1 från UDP-glukos till UDP-glukuronsyra. Kombinationer av de fyra punktmutationerna G18S, P139R, W367S och AG387ED introducerades i UGT72B1. Ingen aktivitet med UDP-glukuronsyra erhölls dock. Enkelmutanterna W367S och AG387ED bibehöll liknande aktivitet som vildtypen, medan P139R hade starkt reducerad aktivitet och G18S uttrycktes inte alls. Alla andra kombinationer av mutationer resulterade i ännu lägre aktivitet. Fyra chimeriska proteiner konstruerades också. De skapades genom kombination av UGT72B1 och det humana enzymet UGT2B4. Dessa var alla lösliga proteiner men ingen av dem uppvisade någon aktivitet.