TO THE EDITOR: To investigate the impact of maternal diabetes on oocyte metabolism and meiotic maturation, Ratchford et al. (10) reported changes in 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase II (Hadh2) activity in oocytes after treatment with 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-D-ribofuranoside or after administration of human chorionic gonadotropin, respectively (as shown in Figs. 3A and 4A of Ref. 10). Th...

UNLABELLED Propionyl coenzyme A (propionyl-CoA) assimilation by Rhodobacter sphaeroides proceeds via the methylmalonyl-CoA pathway. The activity of the key enzyme of the pathway, propionyl-CoA carboxylase (PCC), was upregulated 20-fold during growth with propionate compared to growth with succinate. Because propionyl-CoA is an intermediate in acetyl-CoA assimilation via the ethylmalonyl-CoA pat...

The two yeast genes for 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, HMG1 and HMG2, each encode a functional isozyme. Although cells bearing null mutations in both genes are inviable, cells bearing a null mutation in either gene are viable. This paper describes a method of screening for recessive mutations in the HMG1 gene, the gene encoding the majority of HMG-CoA reductase activ...

This paper examines the catalytic function of the protein YbgC, encoded by the ybgC gene of the tol-pal gene cluster in Haemophilus influenzae. The YbgC protein, a homologue of the Pseudomonas sp. strain CBS3 4-hydroxybenzoyl-coenzyme A thioesterase, conserves the active site Asp residue associated with thioesterase activity. The H. influenzae ybgC gene was cloned and overexpressed in Escherich...

The aim of this study was molecular identification of S. aureus strains isolated from mastitic milk samples and establishing the genetic relationship between strains isolated from cows belonging to the same herd. In all 43 isolated strains the gap gene (930 bp) was amplified, which enabled their affiliation to the Staphylococcus genus to be established. PCR-RFLP with AluI endonuclease of the ga...

Insects do not synthesize cholesterol; the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme-A (HMG-CoA) produced by HMG-CoA synthase is transformed to mevalonate by HMG-CoA reductase for the production of non-sterol isoprenoids, which are essential for growth and differentiation. To understand the regulation and developmental role of HMG-CoA synthase, we have cloned a 1658 bp cDNA that encompasses the entir...

NBIA (neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation) comprises a heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative diseases having as a common denominator, iron overload in specific brain areas, mainly basal ganglia and globus pallidus. In the past decade a bunch of disease genes have been identified, but NBIA pathomechanisms are still not completely clear. PKAN (pantothenate kinase-associated neurodeg...

Coenzyme A (CoA) holds a central position in cellular metabolism and therefore can be assumed to be an ancient molecule. Starting from the known E. coli and human enzymes required for the biosynthesis of CoA, phylogenetic profiles and chromosomal proximity methods enabled an almost complete reconstruction of archaeal CoA biosynthesis. This includes the identification of strong candidates for ar...

A family of acyl-CoA oxidase isozymes catalyse the first step in the peroxisomal fatty acid beta-oxidation spiral. Our group and others have recently characterized four genes from this family in the model oilseed Arabidopsis. These genes encode isozymes with different acyl-CoA substrate specificities, which together encompass the full range of fatty acid chain lengths that exist in vivo. Here w...