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No description available.

Gentamicin C complex is a mixture of five structurally similar aminoglycoside antibiotics, gentamicins C1, C1a, C2, C2a, and C2b, produced by the actinomycete bacterium Micromonospora echinospora. It is established in clinical use and despite significant toxicity remains valuable to treat severe Gram-negative bacterial infections. There is a pressing need to develop novel versions of such antibiotics to combat the rise of resistance among pathogens. Engineering of the pathway requires a detailed knowledge of the genes, enzymes, and intermediates involved. The final steps of gentamicin biosynthesis begin at gentamicin X2, the last common intermediate of the C complex. 6'-C-Methylation generates two branches, with analogous reactions happening in both. Candidate genes and enzymes for the steps from the first 6'-C-methylated intermediate, G418, to an aminated metabolite JI-20B have already been described, but none for the subsequent loss of two hydroxyl groups from Ring II, or the N-methylation that then occurs. A novel separation method using dynamic countercurrent chromatography was successfully applied to the difficult purification of gentamicin metabolites. The results described here allowed a detailed mechanism to be proposed for almost the entire pathway from G418 to the C complex, and by analogy for the unbranched pathway, too. The last step of the pathway is 6'-N-methylation of gentamicins C1a and C2. Genome mining and cell-free assays were used by the group of Professor Yuhui Sun (Wuhan University) to identify genL, a methyltransferase gene encoded elsewhere on the M. echinospora genome and capable of this catalysis. Here, in vitro reactions with recombinant GenL confirmed its function, and its kinetic parameters were measured with its substrates. The full mechanistic pathway for the late stages of gentamicin C complex biosynthesis has therefore now been elucidated.

Orientador: Maysa Furlan / Co-orientador: Isabele Rodrigues Nascimento / Banca: Hosana Maria Debonsi / Banca: Beatriz Helena Lameiro de Noronha Sales Maia / Banca: Edson Rodrigues Filho / Banca: Ian Castro Gamboa / Resumo: O estudo fitoquímico precedente da espécie Peperomia blanda culminou no isolamento de lignanas tetraidrofurânicas e secolignanas. Alguns isômeros destas secolignanas apresentaram configurações absolutas diferentes daquelas já relatadas, as quais foram determinadas por comparação dos espectros experimentais de dicroísmo circular vibracional e eletrônico com aqueles preditos por cálculos mecânico-quânticos ab initio. A peperomina B teve a configuração absoluta assinalada como (2S,3S,5S), confirmando a estrutura química descrita na literatura, a substância 2-metil-3-[bis(3′,4′-metilenodioxi-5′-metoxifenil) metil]butirolactona foi assinalada como (2R,3S) e a substância 2-metil-3-[5-(3′,4′-metilenodioxi-5′-metoxifenil)-5-(3′,4′,5′-trimetoxifenil)metil]butirolactona foi assinalada como (2R,3S,5S). As dinâmicas metabólicas sazonais de três lignanas tetraidrofurânicas e três secolignanas foram determinadas a partir de análise por CLAE-DAD dos extratos metanólicos de partes aéreas e raízes de duas populações de P. blanda, utilizando planejamento experimental e validação do método cromatográfico. O maior acúmulo destas substâncias foi observado nas raízes, especialmente nos meses de julho e em espécies coletada na Reserva Florestal da Ripasa. Alguns fatores climáticos, como a disponibilidade hídrica, foram determinantes para a produção destes metabólitos. Uma das lignanas tetraidrofurânicas, com oxidação na posição C-9, bem como as secolignanas, tiveram alguns aspectos biossintéticos abordados pela incorporação de precursores em extratos enzimáticos. Os estudos das vias biossintéticas envolvidas na formação dessas lignanas foram iniciados com a investigação e otimização das reações catalíticas da enzima fenilalanina amônia liase (PAL). A condição ótima reacional foi determinada por... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The previous phytochemical study of Peperomia blanda species culminated in the isolation of secolignans and tetrahydrofuran lignans. Some of these secolignans isomers showed different absolute configurations from those reported in the literature, which were determined by comparison of experimental vibrational and electronic circular dichroism spectra with those calculated using ab initio quantum mechanical methods. The stereochemistry of peperomin B was assigned as (2S,3S,5S) confirming the previous related structure, the compound 2-methyl-3-[bis(3′,4′-methylenedioxy-5′-methoxyphenyl)methyl] butyrolactone was assigned as (2R,3S) and the compound 2-methyl-3-[5-(3′,4′-methylenedioxy-5′-methoxyphenyl)-5-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenyl)methyl] butyrolactone was assigned as (2R,3S,5S). The seasonal metabolic dynamic of three tetrahydrofuran lignans and three secolignans were determined by HPLC-DAD analysis of methanolic extracts of aerial parts and roots of two populations of P. blanda, using experimental design and validation of the chromatographic method. The largest accumulation of these substances was observed in the roots, specially in July and in the species collected in the Ripasa's Forest Reserve. Some climatic factors such as water availability were critical for the production of these metabolites. One of the tetrahydrofuran secolignans with oxidation at C-9 as well as the secolignans were studied from the biosynthetic point of view using cell free extracts. These studies were started with the investigation and optimization of catalytic reactions of the enzyme phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL). The optimum reaction condition was determined by experimental design which showed better conversion of L-phenylalanine to trans-cinnamic acid at 51 °C and pH 9.2. The... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

<i>Hevea brasiliensis </i>latex contains a large quantity of high molecular weight rubber and is thus the primary commercial source of natural rubber. Rubber and other non-rubber isoprenoids in <i>Hevea </i>latex are synthesised from isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) generated from the cytoplasmic mevalonate (MVA) pathway and the plastidic methyl erythritol phosphate pathway (MEP). This study utilised two rubber tree clones (RRIM600 and PB235) that show visibly contrasting levels of yellow carotenoids for the measurement of latex isoprenoids (carotenoids, rubber and isoprenoid intermediates) and transcript levels of the genes involved in isoprenoid biosynthesis. Metabolite extraction and analysis showed that four major carotenoids namely lutein, zeaxanthin, α-carotene and β-carotene were consistently present in both RRIM600 and PB235 latex. β-carotene was found to be the major carotenoid, at 1.2 μg/g in PB235 and 0.8 μg/g in RRIM600 fresh latex samples. However, the analytical method developed to measure isoprenoid intermediates needed to be further optimised to increase extraction efficiency. To enable accurate measurement of transcript levels of key genes involved in the isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway, a set of reference transcripts was constructed by merging short-reads (RNA-seq) and long-reads (Iso-seq and full-length cDNA sequences) data from <i>Hevea brasiliensis</i>. This produced a comprehensive set of 193,997 transcript sequences with good level of coverage of predicted transcripts and highly conserved core plant genes. Not only did the reference transcriptome update the annotation of rubber gene models, additional transcript variants were also discovered. Manual curation of gene models for key steps associated with rubber and carotenoids resulted in a repertoire of 115 genes, with 151 corresponding transcript variants. Subsequently, differential expression analysis on the basis of mapping RRIM600 and PB235 RNA-seq reads to the reference transcriptome revealed isoform-specific expression of genes for biosynthesis of carotenoids (PSY isoform 2), IPP (AACT2 and HMGR1) and rubber (REFSRPP gene members). In addition, the levels of these genes correlated positively with the carotenoid and rubber content measurements from the same latex of PB235 and RRIM600 used for metabolite extraction. Finally, the utility of the reference transcript catalogue was demonstrated by the characterisation of the REFSRPP gene family, which is involved in rubber elongation steps. REFSRPP gene family showed a local expansion which appear to be unique to <i>Hevea</i>. A pilot study has demonstrated there is considerable diversity of the genomic region containing the duplicated REFSRPP genes.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2005. / Supervisor: Paul Harrison. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 192-207).

Graduation date: 1999

Graduation date: 1991

UDP-glucose, the precursor for cellulose biosynthesis, can be produced via the catalysis of sucrose by sucrose synthase (SuSy) or through the phosphorylation of glucose-I-phosphate by UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (UGPase). As such, these genes, together with sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) which recycles fructose (an inhibitor of SuSy), are interesting targets for altering carbon allocation in plants. In an attempt to alter cell wall biosynthesis in plants, targeted overexpression of SuSy, UGPase and SPS independently and in a pyramiding strategy was assessed in tobacco. All lines displayed enhanced growth and biomass production, and in the case of double and triple transgenics, there was an additive effect. Despite the increased growth rates, there was no consistent change in soluble carbohydrate pools. Furthermore, only the triple transgenics had constant changes in structural carbohydrates: with increased hemicellulose content and slight increases in cellulose. Collectively, these results support the role of SPS, SuSy and UGPase in maintaining sink strength, but suggest that the reallocation of carbon to cellulose production in tobacco may not be possible by overexpressing these genes. In contrast, transgenic poplar overexpressing UGPase produced significantly more cellulose than wild-type trees. However, this was accompanied by a severe reduction in growth and the production of a salicylic acid glucoside (SAG) in significant quantities. The UDP-glucose generated by UGPase overexpression appeared to participate in both the synthesis of cellulose and SAG, suggesting that cellulose biosynthesis may be limited by the cellulose synthase complex. Poplar transformed with SuSy and with SuSy x UGPase also had increased cellulose production. The trees were phenotypically normal, with only minor reductions in height growth in some lines. It appears that UDP-glucose may be channelled directly to the cellulose synthase complex by SuSy. The increased cellulose content was associated with an increase in cell wall crystallinity, but there was no change in microfibril angle, confirming the re-allocation to cellulose synthesis was not the result of tension wood formation, again supporting the hypothesis that the cellulose synthase complex is the limiting factor. Clearly, it is possible to alter cellulose deposition in trees by augmenting sucrose metabolism to produce UDP-glucose, the precursor to cellulose biosynthesis.