Tag: Biochemistry

Rubisco is the enzyme responsible for the fixation of CO2 to ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) during photosynthetic reactions. However, this enzyme has some functional issues, such as a slow catalytic turnover rate and sensitivity to temperature and CO2, and it catalyzes a competing oxygenation process…

Heat shock proteins are rapidly induced by heat treatment and were among the first plant genes and proteins characterized in the early days of molecular biology, nearly 40 years ago. Waters and Vierling review the family of small heat shock proteins (sHSPs), which has been especially amplified in plants…

This is a fascinating and very well-written paper that investigates the diversity of rubisco's kinetic properties. Rubisco’s relationship with its substrate CO2 is complicated by its relationship with O2, and it has often been suggested that for this reason rubisco is locked into a slow rate of catalysis.…

The ability of biological systems to self-repair is a huge motivator in all sorts of synthetic biology projects. Taking this cell-as-factory to the next step comes the question of how often do the parts need replacing? Tivendale et al. address this through a discussion of Catalytic Cycles until Replacement…

Cellulose is an indispensable component of plant cell wall formation. Cellulose is synthesized at the plasma membrane by a cellulose synthase complex (CSC) made up of at least 18 monomeric cellulose synthases (CESAs). In this study, Huang et al. used a chemical genetic approach to explore the structure…

Strigolactones (SL) are a compounds that play important roles as phytohormones and as a rhizosphere signaling. Despite the great advances in their research that occurred recently, their biosynthetic pathway is still not well understood. Until now, the pathway leading to the precursor carlactonic…

During leaf senescence, nitrogen-rich chlorophyll is broken down through a regulated process so that nitrogen-containing compounds can be reassimilated into the plant body. Chlorophyll catabolites are sequestered in the vacuole as linear tetrapyrroles known as phyllobilins, produced through the action…

Boachon et al. explore metabolic processes associated with floral defense. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00320 By Benoît Boachon, University of Lyon, UJM-Saint-Etienne, CNRS, BVpam FRE 3727, Saint-Etienne, France. Danièle Werck-Reichhart, Institute of Plant Molecular Biology of…