BACKGROUND AND AIMS Plastid NADP-dependent malate dehydrogenase (MDH) catalyses the conversion of oxaloacetate to malate. In C4 plants, it is involved in photosynthetic carbon assimilation. In Poaceae, one NADP-MDH gene has been identified in rice (C3; Erhartoideae) and maize (C4; Panicoideae), whereas two tandemly repeated genes have been identified in Sorghum (C4; Panicoideae). In the present...

Malic enzymes are widely distributed in nature, and have important biological functions. They catalyze the oxidative decarboxylation of malate to produce pyruvate and CO(2) in the presence of divalent cations (Mg(2+), Mn(2+)). Most malic enzymes have a clear selectivity for the dinucleotide cofactor, being able to use either NAD(+) or NADP(+), but not both. Structural studies of the human mitoc...

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase catalyzes the initial and rate-limiting step of the pathway that is the principal source of NADPH in many cells. Earlier studies of cells from several species indicated that the intracellular enzyme is under severe and unexplained restraint or inhibition. Moreover, the intracellular enzyme of human erythrocytes exhibits sigmoid kinetics, whereas the purified en...

An antisense construct targeting the C4 isoform of NADP-malic enzyme (ME), the primary enzyme decarboxylating malate in bundle sheath cells to supply CO2 to Rubisco, was used to transform the dicot Flaveria bidentis. Transgenic plants (a-NADP-ME) exhibited a 34% to 75% reduction in NADP-ME activity relative to the wild type with no visible growth phenotype. We characterized the effect of reduci...

An antisense construct targeting the C(4) isoform of NADP-malic enzyme (ME), the primary enzyme decarboxylating malate in bundle sheath cells to supply CO(2) to Rubisco, was used to transform the dicot Flaveria bidentis. Transgenic plants (α-NADP-ME) exhibited a 34% to 75% reduction in NADP-ME activity relative to the wild type with no visible growth phenotype. We characterized the effect of re...

A method is described which enables one to assay simultaneously the NAD- and NADP-linked reactions of dehydrogenases which can utilize both coenzymes. The method is based on the fact that the thionicotinamide analogs of NADH and NADPH absorb light maximally at 400 nm, a wavelength sufficiently far removed from the absorbance maximum of NADH and NADPH to permit measurements of the simultaneous r...

Precipitation chemistry and depth measurements obtained by the Canadian Air and Precipitation Monitoring Network (CAPMoN) and the US National Atmospheric Deposition Program/National Trends Network (NADP/NTN) were compared for the 10-year period 1995-2004. Colocated sets of CAPMoN and NADP instrumentation, consisting of precipitation collectors and rain gages, were operated simultaneously per st...

The cytosolic NADP(+)-dependent malic enzyme (c-NADP-ME) has a dimer-dimer quaternary structure in which the dimer interface associates more tightly than the tetramer interface. In this study, the urea-induced unfolding process of the c-NADP-ME interface mutants was monitored using fluorescence and circular dichroism spectroscopy, analytical ultracentrifugation and enzyme activities. Here, we d...

NADPH regeneration appears to be essential in the mechanism of plant defence against oxidative stress. Plants contain several NADPH-generating dehydrogenases including isocitrate dehydrogenase (NADP-ICDH), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGDH), and malic enzyme (ME). In Arabidopsis seedlings grown under salinity conditions (100 mM NaCl) the analysis...