The acyl-CoA ligases convert free fatty acids to acyl-CoA derivatives, and these enzymes have been shown to be present in mitochondria, peroxisomes, and endoplasmic reticulum. Because their activity is obligatory for fatty acid metabolism, it is important to identify their substrate specificities and subcellular distributions to further understand the cellular regulation of these pathways. To d...

Benzoate:CoA ligase (BZL) was partially purified from flowers of the annual California plant Clarkia breweri. BZL catalyzes the formation of benzoyl-CoA and anthraniloyl-CoA, important intermediates for subsequent acyltransferase reactions in plant secondary metabolism. The native enzyme is active as a monomer with a molecular mass of approximately 59-64.5 kDa, and it has K(m) values of 45, 95,...

The phenylacetic acid (PhAc) degradation pathway becomes an interesting model for the catabolism of aromatic compounds. To determine the molecular basis for this environmentally important process, we did a phylogenic analysis based on the PhAc CoA ligase gene. It suggests that the PhAc CoA ligase genes are distributing widely and subject to frequent lateral gene transfer within and across bacte...

Wood formation occurs via cell division, primary cell wall and secondary wall formation, and programmed cell death in the vascular cambium. Transcriptional profiling of secondary xylem differentiation is essential for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying wood formation. Differential gene expression in secondary xylem differentiation of Populus has been previously investigated using...

BACKGROUND Switchgrass is a prime target for biofuel production from inedible plant parts and has been the subject of numerous investigations in recent years. Yet, one of the main obstacles to effective biofuel production remains to be the major problem of recalcitrance. Recalcitrance emerges in part from the 3-D structure of lignin as a polymer in the secondary cell wall. Lignin limits accessi...

Prunella vulgaris L., commonly known as "self-heal" or "heal-all," is a perennial herb with a long history of medicinal use. Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H), and 4-coumarate:coenzyme-A (CoA) ligase (4CL) are important enzymes in the phenylpropanoid pathway and in the accumulation of rosmarinic acid (RA), which is a major secondary metabolite in P. vulgaris. In t...

4-Coumarate: coenzyme A ligase (4CL; EC 6.2.1.12) is an important enzyme in the phenylpropanoid metabolic pathway that controls biosynthesis of lignin and flavonoids. In this study, to identify function Ag4CL3 gene celery, was cloned from celery cv. “Nanxuan Liuhe Ziqin”. Sequence analysis results showed contained open reading frame (ORF) with a length 1688 bp, 555 amino acids were encoded. The...

To gain a better understanding of the molecular changes taking place in citrus fruit tissue following the application of the yeast biocontrol agent Metschnikowia fructicola, microarray analysis was performed on grapefruit surface wounds using an Affymetrix Citrus GeneChip. Using a cut-off of P < 0.05 and a 1.5-fold change difference as biologically significant, the data indicated that 1007 puta...

Members of the genus Ixeris have long been used in traditional medicines as stomachics, sedatives, and diuretics. Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), cinnamate-4-hydroxylase (C4H), 4-coumarate: coenzyme-A (CoA) ligase (4CL), chalcone synthase (CHS), and dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR) are important enzymes in the phenylpropanoid pathway. In this study, we analyzed seven genes from Ixeris denta...

Two recombinant His-tagged proteins, a plant 4-coumarate:coenzyme A ligase (EC 6.2.1.12) and a bacterial benzoate:coenzyme A ligase (EC 6.2.1.25), were expressed in Escherichia coli and purified in a single step using Ni-chelating chromatography. Purified enzymes were used to synthesize cinnamoyl-coenzyme A (CoA), p-coumaroyl-CoA, feruloyl-CoA, caffeoyl-CoA, and benzoyl-CoA. Conversions up to 9...