<p>Photosynthesis captures light from the sun and converts it into carbohydrates, which are utilised by almost all living organisms. The conversion between the different forms of carbohydrates is the basis to form almost all biological molecules.</p><p>The main intention of this thesis has been to study the role of UDP-glucose in carbohydrate synthesis and metabolism, and in particular the genes that encode UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (UGPase) and UDP-glucose dehydrogenase (UGDH) in plants and their regulation. UGPase converts glucose-1-phosphate to UDP-glucose, which can be utilised for sucrose synthesis, or cell wall polysaccharides among others. UGDH converts UDP-glucose to UDP-glucuronate, which is a precursor for hemicellulose and pectin. As model species I have been working with both Arabidopsis thaliana and poplar.</p><p>Sequences for two full-length EST clones of Ugp were obtained from both Arabidopsis and poplar, the cDNAs in Arabidopsis correlate with two genes in the Arabidopsis genomic database.</p><p>The derived protein sequences are 90-93% identical within each plants species and 80-83% identical between the two species.</p><p>Studies on Ugp showed that the expression is up-regulated by Pi-deficiency, sucrose-feeding and by light exposure in Arabidopsis. Studies with Arabidopsis plants with mutations in sugar/ starch- and Pi-content suggested that the Ugp expression is modulated by an interaction of signals derived from Pi-deficiency, sugar content and light/ dark conditions, where the signals act independently or inhibiting each other, depending on conditions. Okadaic acid, a known inhibitor of certain classes of protein phosphatases, prevented the up-regulation of Ugp by Pi-deficiency and sucrose-feeding. In poplar, sucrose also up-regulated the expression of Ugp. When poplar and Arabidopsis were exposed to cold, an increase of Ugp transcript content was detected as well as an increase in UGPase protein and activity. In poplar, Ugp was found to be expressed in all tissues that were examined (differentiating xylem, phloem, apical leaves and young and mature leaves).</p><p>By using antisense strategy, Arabidopsis plants that had a decrease in UGPase activity of up to 30% were obtained. In the antisense plants, the soluble carbohydrate content was reduced in the leaves by at least 50%; in addition the starch content decreased. Despite the changes in carbohydrate content, the growth rate of the antisense plants was not changed compared to wild type plants under normal growth conditions. However, in the antisense lines the UGPase activity and protein content in sliliques and roots increased, perhaps reflecting compensatory up-regulation of second Ugp gene. This correlates with a slightly larger molecular mass of UGPase protein in roots and siliques when compared to that in leaves. Maximal photosynthesis rates were similar for both wild type and antisense plants, but the latter had up to 40% lower dark respiration and slightly lower quantum yield than wild type plants.</p><p>Two Ugdh cDNAs from poplar and one from Arabidopsis were sequenced. The highest Ugdh expression was found in xylem and younger leaves. Expression data from sugar and osmoticum feeding experiment in poplar suggested that the Ugdh expression is regulated via an osmoticumdependent pathway.</p>

Analytische Chemie heute meint nicht länger nur die große Messtechnik, die zeit- und kostenintensiv ist, die außerdem nur von qualifiziertem Personal zu bedienen ist und deren Resultate nur durch dieses Personal auswertbar sind. Meist erfordert diese sagen wir 'klassische analytische Messtechnik' auch noch spezielle Räumlichkeiten und oft eine relative große Menge an speziell vorbereiteten Proben. Neben dieser klassischen analytischen Messtechnik hat sich besonders in den letzten Jahren eine auf bestimmte Stoffgruppen und Anforderungen zugeschnittene Messtechnik durchgesetzt, die oft auch durch einen Laien bedient werden kann. Meist sind es sehr kleine Geräte. Auch die benötigten Probenvolumina sind klein und eine spezielle Probenvorbereitung ist nicht erforderlich. Ausserdem sind die Geräte einfach zu handhaben, billig sowohl in ihrer Herstellung als auch im Gebrauch und meist erlauben sie sogar eine kontinuierliche Messwerterfassung. <br /> <br /> Zahlreiche dieser in den letzten Jahren entwickelten Geräte greifen zurück auf 40 Jahre Forschung auf dem Gebiet der Biosensorik. Seit Clark und Lyons im Jahr 1962 in der Lage waren, mit einer einfachen Sauerstoffelektrode, ergänzt durch ein Enzym, Glucose zu messen, war die Entwicklung neuer Messtechnik nicht mehr aufzuhalten. Biosensoren, spezielle Messfühler, die aus einer Kombination aus biologischer Komponente (erlaubt eine spezifische Erkennung des Analyten auch ohne vorherige Reinigung der Probe) und einem physikalischen Messfühler (wandelt den primären physikochemischen Effekt in ein elektronisch messbares Signal um) bestehen, eroberten den Markt. <br /> <br /> Im Rahmen dieser Doktorarbeit wurden verschiedene Tyrosinasesensoren entwickelt, die je nach Herkunft und Eigenschaften der verwendeten Tyrosinase unterschiedliche Anforderungen erfüllen. Beispielsweise wurde einer dieser Tyrosinasesensoren für die Bestimmung phenolischer Verbindungen in Fluss- und Seewasserproben eingesetzt, und die mit diesem Sensor gemessenen Ergebnisse konnten sehr gut mit dem entsprechenden DIN-Test zur Bestimmung phenolischer Verbindungen korreliert werden. Ein anderer entwickelter Sensor zeigte eine sehr hohe Empfindlichkeit für Catecholamine, Substanzen die speziell in der medizinischen Diagnostik von Wichtigkeit sind. <br /> <br /> Ausserdem zeigten die ebenfalls im Rahmen dieser Doktorarbeit durchgeführten Untersuchungen zweier verschiedener Tyrosinasen, dass, will man in Zukunft noch empfindlichere Tyrosinasesensoren entwickeln, eine spezielle Tyrosinase (Tyrosinase aus Streptomyces antibioticus) die bessere Wahl sein wird, als die bisher im Bereich der Biosensorforschung verwendete Tyrosinase aus Agaricus bisporus. <br /> <br /> Desweiteren wurden erste Erfolge auf molekularbiologischem Gebiet erreicht, das heisst, dass Tyrosinasemutanten mit speziellen, vorher überlegten Eigenschaften, hergestellt werden sollen. Diese Erfolge können dazu genutzt werden, eine neue Generation an Tyrosinasesensoren zu entwickeln, Tyrosinasesensoren in denen Tyrosinase gerichtet gebunden werden kann, sowohl an den entsprechenden physikalischen Messfühler oder auch an ein anderes Enzym. Davon verspricht man sich deutlich minimierte Wege, die die zu bestimmende Substanz (oder deren Produkt) sonst zurücklegen müsste, was am Ende zu einer deutlich erhöhten Empfindlichkeit des resultierenden Biosensors führen sollte. / Today, analytical chemistry does not longer consist of only the big measuring devices and methods which are time consuming and expensive, which can furthermore only be handled by the qualified staff and in addition the results can also only be evaluated by this qualified staff. Usually, this technique, which shall be described in the following as 'classic analytic measuring technique', requires also rooms equipped especially and often a relative big quantity of the test compounds which should be prepared especially. Beside this classic analytic measuring technique, limited on definite substance groups and requests, a new measuring technique has gained acceptance particularly within the last years, which one can often be used by a layman, too. Often the new measuring technique has very little pieces of equipment. The needed sample volumes are also small and a special sample preparation isn't required. In addition, the new measuring instruments are simple to handle. They are cheap both in their production and in the use and they permit even a continuous measurement recording usually. <br /> <br /> Numerous of this new measuring instruments base on the research in the field of Biosensorik during the last 40 years. Since Clark and Lyon in the year 1962 were able to measure glucose with a simple oxygen electrode, completed by an enzyme the development of the new measuring technique did not have to be held back any longer. Biosensors, special pickups which consists of a combination from a biological component (permits a specific recognition of the analyte also without purification of the sample previously) and a physical pickup (convert the primary physicochemical effect into an electronically measurable signal), conquered the market. <br /> <br /> In the context of this thesis different tyrosinasesensors were developed which fulfilling the various requests, depending on origin and features of the used tyrosinase. One of the tyrosinasesensors for example was used for quantification of phenolic compounds in river and sea water and the results could correlated very well with the corresponding DIN-test for the determination of phenolic compounds. An other developed tyrosinasesensor showed a very high sensitiveness for catecholamines, substances which are of special importance in the medical diagnostics. <br /> <br /> In addition, the investigations of two different tyrosinases, which were carried out also in the context of this thesis, have shown, that a special tyrosinase (tyrosinase from Streptomyces antibioticus) will be the better choice as tyrosinase from Agaricus bisporus, which is used in the area of biosensor research till now, if one wants to develop in future even more sensitive tyrosinasesensors. <br /> <br /> Furthermore, first successes became reached on a molecular biological field, the production of tyrosinasemutants with special, before well-considered features. These successes can be used to develop a new generation of tyrosinasesensors, tyrosinasesensors in which tyrosinase can be bound directionally both to the corresponding physical pickup or also to another enzyme. From this one expects to achieve ways minimized which the substance to be determined (or whose product) otherwise must cover. Finally, this should result in an clearly visible increase of sensitivity of the Biosensor.

Photosynthesis captures light from the sun and converts it into carbohydrates, which are utilised by almost all living organisms. The conversion between the different forms of carbohydrates is the basis to form almost all biological molecules. The main intention of this thesis has been to study the role of UDP-glucose in carbohydrate synthesis and metabolism, and in particular the genes that encode UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (UGPase) and UDP-glucose dehydrogenase (UGDH) in plants and their regulation. UGPase converts glucose-1-phosphate to UDP-glucose, which can be utilised for sucrose synthesis, or cell wall polysaccharides among others. UGDH converts UDP-glucose to UDP-glucuronate, which is a precursor for hemicellulose and pectin. As model species I have been working with both Arabidopsis thaliana and poplar. Sequences for two full-length EST clones of Ugp were obtained from both Arabidopsis and poplar, the cDNAs in Arabidopsis correlate with two genes in the Arabidopsis genomic database. The derived protein sequences are 90-93% identical within each plants species and 80-83% identical between the two species. Studies on Ugp showed that the expression is up-regulated by Pi-deficiency, sucrose-feeding and by light exposure in Arabidopsis. Studies with Arabidopsis plants with mutations in sugar/ starch- and Pi-content suggested that the Ugp expression is modulated by an interaction of signals derived from Pi-deficiency, sugar content and light/ dark conditions, where the signals act independently or inhibiting each other, depending on conditions. Okadaic acid, a known inhibitor of certain classes of protein phosphatases, prevented the up-regulation of Ugp by Pi-deficiency and sucrose-feeding. In poplar, sucrose also up-regulated the expression of Ugp. When poplar and Arabidopsis were exposed to cold, an increase of Ugp transcript content was detected as well as an increase in UGPase protein and activity. In poplar, Ugp was found to be expressed in all tissues that were examined (differentiating xylem, phloem, apical leaves and young and mature leaves). By using antisense strategy, Arabidopsis plants that had a decrease in UGPase activity of up to 30% were obtained. In the antisense plants, the soluble carbohydrate content was reduced in the leaves by at least 50%; in addition the starch content decreased. Despite the changes in carbohydrate content, the growth rate of the antisense plants was not changed compared to wild type plants under normal growth conditions. However, in the antisense lines the UGPase activity and protein content in sliliques and roots increased, perhaps reflecting compensatory up-regulation of second Ugp gene. This correlates with a slightly larger molecular mass of UGPase protein in roots and siliques when compared to that in leaves. Maximal photosynthesis rates were similar for both wild type and antisense plants, but the latter had up to 40% lower dark respiration and slightly lower quantum yield than wild type plants. Two Ugdh cDNAs from poplar and one from Arabidopsis were sequenced. The highest Ugdh expression was found in xylem and younger leaves. Expression data from sugar and osmoticum feeding experiment in poplar suggested that the Ugdh expression is regulated via an osmoticumdependent pathway.

La première partie du travail présenté ici se concentre sur l’optimisation d’une cathode à oxygène. Tout d’abord, l’utilisation d’une nouvelle enzyme (la BOD de Magnaporthe oryzae) permet de multiplier le courant de réduction de l’oxygène en eau jusqu’à neuf fois. Ensuite la synthèse d’un polymère rédox adapté a permis d’améliorer le coefficient de diffusion des électrons dans l’hydrogel résultant en l’augmentation de la densité de courant générée. Enfin nous sommes passés d’uneélectrode de carbone en 2 dimensions à une fibre d’or poreuse tridimensionnelle. Après modification de cette fibre avec l’hydrogel rédox à base de BOD de M. oryzaenous avons évalué sa biocompatibilité : in vitro les tests ont montré l’absence totale de cytotoxicité et seule une très faible réponse inflammatoire ; in vivo aucune infection ne s’est déclarée pendant les 8 semaines d’implantation dans les souris etla formation d’une capsule fibrotique autour de l’électrode traduit sa bonne intégration dans les tissus de l’animal. La seconde partie concerne la biopile dans son intégralité, construite à partir de la cathode optimisée et d’une anode adaptée à base de GDH. Elle permet de générer jusqu’à 240 μW.cm-2 dans du tampon Pipes/CaCl2 à 5mM de glucose. La biopile a ensuite été testée dans du sang humain total. Un maximum de 129 μW.cm-2 a été obtenu dans un échantillon avec une glycémie de 8,2 mM sous air. De plus nous avons constaté que la densité de puissance délivrée augmente proportionnellement avec la glycémie des différents échantillons de sang testés, faisant de la biopile à la fois une source d’électricité et un biocapteur à glucose ce qui n’avait jamais été démontré auparavant. / The first part of the work presented here focuses on the optimization of an oxygen cathode. First, the use of a new enzyme (BOD from Magnaporthe oryzae) permit to increase the current of reduction of oxygen into water by a factor nine. Then the synthesis of a suitable redox polymer greatly improved the diffusion coefficient of electrons in the hydrogel, resulting in an increase of the current density. Finally we switched from a two-dimensional carbon electrode to a three-dimensional porous gold fiber. After modification of the fiber with the redox hydrogel based on BOD from M. oryzae, we assessed its biocompatibility: in vitro the tests showed the total absence of cytotoxicity and only a very low inflammatory response; in vivo noinfection appeared during the 8 weeks of implantation in mice and the formation of afibrotic capsule around the device reflects its successful integration into the animal tissues.The second part concerns the full biofuel cell, elaborated from the optimized cathode and an adapted GDH-based anode. It could generate up to 240 μW.cm-2 at 5mMglucose in Pipes/CaCl2 buffer. The biofuel cell was then tested in whole human blood. A maximum of 129 μW.cm-2 was obtained in a sample with 8,2 mM glycaemiaunder air. In addition we observed that the delivered power density increased proportionally with the glycaemia of the different blood samples tested, making the biofuel cell both a power source and a glucose biosensor at the same time which had never been shown before.