Contents
Preface
Utilization of plants and microorganisms for environment and energy
Taku Demura. . . . . . . 221 [PDF]
Reviews
Mechanisms underlying interspecific variation in photosynthetic capacity across wild plant species
Kouki Hikosaka. . . . . . . 223 [PDF]
There is large variation in photosynthetic capacity among vascular plant species. Here I show that various factors are involved in the variation: CO2 diffusion from air to chloroplasts, nitrogen use in the photosynthetic apparatus, and kinetics of rubisco.
Generation of nucleotide sugars for biomass formation in plants
Toshihisa Kotake, Chie Hirosawa, Yasutoshi Ando, Yoichi Tsumuraya. . . . . . . 231 [PDF]
The levels of nucleotide sugars, as well as the levels of the glycosyltransferases, regulate the production of plant cellulosic biomass. This review focuses on the recent progress in our understanding of the mechanism for the generation of nucleotide sugars through the salvage pathway for free monosaccharides in higher plants.
Transcriptional regulation of secondary wall formation controlled by NAC domain proteins
Masatoshi Yamaguchi, Taku Demura. . . . . . . 237 [PDF]
Secondary wall is found in several types of plant cells, such as xylem vessels and fiber cells. Recent studies reported that some NAC domain transcription factors play pivotal roles in secondary wall formation. In this review, we have summarized the roles of the NAC domain transcription factors.
High-performance lignin-mimetic polyesters
Tatsuo Kaneko, Daisaku Kaneko, Siqian Wang. . . . . . . 243 [PDF]
Lignin-mimetic hyperbranching polyesters were prepared by a copolycondensation of phytomonomers p-coumaric acid and caffeic acid. The polyesters showed very high thermoresistance and in-soil degradability to apply as a degradable plastic with extremely high performance.
Original Papers
Heterologous expression of diverse barley XTH genes in the yeast Pichia pastoris
Nomchit Kaewthai, Andrew J. Harvey, Maria Hrmova, Harry Brumer, Ines Ezcurra, Tuula T. Teeri, Geoffrey B. Fincher. . . . . . . 251 [PDF]
Heterologous expression of plant genes, particularly those encoding carbohydrate-active enzymes such as glycoside hydrolases and glycosyl transferases, continues to be a major hurdle in the functional analysis of plant proteomes. Here, we demonstrate the utility of the yeast P. pastoris for the expression of a range of xyloglucan endo-transglycosylase/hydrolase (XTH) cDNAs from barley (Hordeum vulgare), as a precursor to biochemical characterisation. Notably, the 50% success rate obtained is similar to that previously observed for the recombinant production of human proteins in this host.
Characterization of α-L-arabinofuranosidase related to the secondary cell walls formation in Arabidopsis thaliana
Hitomi Ichinose, Nobuyuki Nishikubo, Taku Demura, Satoshi Kaneko. . . . . . . 259 [PDF]
The xylem vessel formation stage-specific family 51 α-L-arabinofuranosidase (At3g10740) was characterized. The recombinant enzyme preferentially hydrolyzed arabinoxylo-oligosaccharides, suggesting that it is involved in the modification of the structure of xylan together with family 10 xylanases during the xylem vessel formation.
MYB transcription factors orchestrating the developmental program of xylem vessels in Arabidopsis roots
Yoshimi Nakano, Nobuyuki Nishikubo, Nadia Goue, Misato Ohtani, Masatoshi Yamaguchi, Yoshihiro Katayama, Taku Demura. . . . . . . 267 [PDF]
We demonstrated the detailed expression pattern and transcriptional regulatory network of ten Arabidopsis MYB genes, MYB20, 43, 46, 52, 63, 83, 85, 99, 103, and 118, with the up-regulated expression during in vitro vessel element differentiation.
Molecular cloning of cDNAs encoding two glycoside hydrolase family 7 cellobiohydrolases from the basidiomycete Flammulina velutipes
Maki Ishiguro, Tomonobu Hori, Takuya Ishida, Makoto Yoshida, Koji Takabatake, Satoshi Kaneko, Kiyohiko Igarashi, Masahiro Samejima. . . . . . . 273 [PDF]
Two genes coding glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 7 were cloned from Enokitake mushroom, Flammulina velutipes. Comparison of deduce amino acid sequences indicated that two enzymes have differences at loop region, which may affect the reactivity of substrates, although they have high similarity each other.
Notes
Biochemical characterization of family 43 glycosyltransferases in the Populus xylem: challenges and prospects
Anders Winzell, Gea Guerriero, Henrik Aspeborg, Yiqiang Wang, Alex S. Rajangam, Tuula T. Teeri, Inés Ezcurra. . . . . . . 283 [PDF]
We report different attempts to heterologously express PttGT43A, a xylem-specific family 43 glycosyltransferase (GT) from hybrid aspen which is a putative IRREGULAR XYLEM9 (IRX9) homologue. Transient expression in tobacco leaves using a viral vector produced substantial amounts of protein but only weak xylosyltransferase activity was detected in microsomal extracts. This suggest that transient co- expression in leaves of candidate subunit GTs may provide a viable approach for formation of an active xylan xylosyltransferase enzymatic complex.
Enhanced solubilization of polygalacturonic acid synthase by ribonuclease treatment of cell homogenates
Masamichi Uegaki, Kazutoshi Yasui, Takeshi Ishimizu. . . . . . . 289 [PDF]
Polygalacturonic acid synthase involved in pectin biosynthesis has not been purified due to its instability and its low activity in the solubilized enzyme solution. We report that ribonuclease treatment of cell homogenates during protein extraction enhanced solubilization of the enzyme 2.1-fold.
Terminally-Catecholized Hyper-Branched Polymers with High Performance Adhesive Characteristics
Daisaku Kaneko, Shougo Kinugawa, Keitaro Matsumoto, Tatsuo Kaneko. . . . . . . 293 [PDF]
We have synthesized novel adhesive polymers from plant-derived monomers. Since these polymers have catechol group at their chain ends, it was found that they showed strong adhesive characteristics to metal surfaces, which were equivalent to conventional superglues.