Fusicoccins are a class of diterpene glucosides produced by the plant-pathogenic fungus Phomopsis amygdali. As modulators of 14-3-3 proteins, fusicoccins function as potent activators of plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase in plants and also exhibit unique biological activity in animal cells. Despite their well studied biological activities, no genes encoding fusicoccin biosynthetic enzymes have been i...

Diterpene glucoside fusicoccin A (FC-A) is a phytotoxic fungal metabolite that stabilizes the interactions between 14-3-3 protein and phosphorylated ligand protein. 14-3-3-mediated binding central to regulation of serine/threonine kinase signaling pathway in all eukaryotic cells essential for controlling numerous biological processes. Thus, fusicoccins could serve as robust platform developing ...

We isolated large quantities of mesophyll protoplasts from source and sink leaves of soybean plants and examined them for amino acid uptake. Accumulation of amino acids in isolated protoplasts was linear for at least 40 minutes. Uptake kinetics revealed the presence of both saturable and linear components. Increasing external pH decreases the uptake. The uncoupler, carbonyl cyanide p-trifluorom...

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) are implicated in every disease and mastering the ability to influence PPIs with small molecules would considerably enlarge the druggable genome. Whereas inhibition of PPIs has repeatedly been shown to work successfully, targeted stabilization of PPIs is underrepresented in the literature. This is all the more surprising because natural products like FK506, r...

Ceratoides lanata (Pursh) J.T. Howell is a shrub with numerous annual branchlets from the family Chenopodiaceae and is widely distributed in brackish water playas of northern Utah. Seeds had no dormancy, and about 90% of the seeds germinated in nonsaline control. Seed germination decreased with the increase in salinity, and more than 10% of the seeds germinated at 900 mmol/L NaCl. Almost all se...