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Akhtar N, Shadab M, Bhatti N, Sajid Ansarì M, Siddiqui MB. Biotechnological frontiers in harnessing allelopathy for sustainable crop production. Funct Integr Genomics 2024; 24:155. [PMID: 39227468 DOI: 10.1007/s10142-024-01418-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2024] [Revised: 08/06/2024] [Accepted: 08/08/2024] [Indexed: 09/05/2024]
Abstract
Allelopathy, the phenomenon in which plants release biochemical compounds that influence the growth and development of neighbouring plants, presents promising opportunities for revolutionizing agriculture towards sustainability. This abstract explores the role of biotechnological advancements in unlocking the potential of allelopathy for sustainable crop production and its applications in agriculture, ecology, and natural resource management. By combining molecular, genetic, biochemical, and bioinformatic tools, researchers can unravel the complexities of allelopathic interactions and their potential for sustainable crop production and environmental stewardship. The development of novel management methods for weed control is getting a lot of attention with the introduction of new genetic technologies such as Gene drive, Transgene technologies, Gene silencing, Marker-assisted selection (MAS), and Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR-Cas9). By strengthening competitive characteristics these tools hold great promise for boosting crops' ability to compete with weeds. Considering recent literature, this review highlights the genetic, transcriptomics, and metabolomics approaches to allelopathy. Employing allelopathic properties in agriculture offer sustainable benefits like natural weed management, pest management, and reduced chemical pollution, but challenges include environmental factors, toxicity, regulatory hurdles, and limited resources. Effective integration requires continued research, regulatory support, and farmer education. Also, we aimed to identify the biotechnological domains requiring more investigation and to provide the basis for future advances through this assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nazish Akhtar
- Allelopathy and Plant Taxonomy Laboratory, Department of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
| | - Mo Shadab
- Allelopathy and Plant Taxonomy Laboratory, Department of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India.
| | - Nourien Bhatti
- Allelopathy and Plant Taxonomy Laboratory, Department of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
| | - Moh Sajid Ansarì
- Section of Environmental pollution research unit, Department of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
| | - M B Siddiqui
- Allelopathy and Plant Taxonomy Laboratory, Department of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
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Nagesh CR, Prashat G R, Goswami S, Bharadwaj C, Praveen S, Ramesh SV, Vinutha T. Sulfate transport and metabolism: strategies to improve the seed protein quality. Mol Biol Rep 2024; 51:242. [PMID: 38300326 DOI: 10.1007/s11033-023-09166-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2024]
Abstract
Sulfur-containing amino acids (SAA), namely methionine, and cysteine are crucial essential amino acids (EAA) considering the dietary requirements of humans and animals. However, a few crop plants, especially legumes, are characterized with suboptimal levels of these EAA thereby limiting their nutritive value. Hence, improved comprehension of the mechanistic perspective of sulfur transport and assimilation into storage reserve, seed storage protein (SSP), is imperative. Efforts to augment the level of SAA in seed storage protein form an integral component of strategies to balance nutritive quality and quantity. In this review, we highlight the emerging trends in the sulfur biofortification approaches namely transgenics, genetic and molecular breeding, and proteomic rebalancing with sulfur nutrition. The transgenic 'push and pull strategy' could enhance sulfur capture and storage by expressing genes that function as efficient transporters, sulfate assimilatory enzymes, sulfur-rich foreign protein sinks, or by suppressing catabolic enzymes. Modern molecular breeding approaches that adopt high throughput screening strategies and machine learning algorithms are invaluable in identifying candidate genes and alleles associated with SAA content and developing improved crop varieties. Sulfur is an essential plant nutrient and its optimal uptake is crucial for seed sulfur metabolism, thereby affecting seed quality and yields through proteomic rebalance between sulfur-rich and sulfur-poor seed storage proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- C R Nagesh
- Division of Biochemistry, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India
| | - Rama Prashat G
- Division of Genetics, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India
| | - Suneha Goswami
- Division of Biochemistry, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India
| | - C Bharadwaj
- Division of Genetics, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India
| | - Shelly Praveen
- Division of Biochemistry, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India
| | - S V Ramesh
- ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, 671 124, Kasaragod, Kerala, India.
| | - T Vinutha
- Division of Biochemistry, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India.
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3
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Abouelhamd N, Gharib FAEL, Amin AA, Ahmed EZ. Impact of foliar spray with Se, nano-Se and sodium sulfate on growth, yield and metabolic activities of red kidney bean. Sci Rep 2023; 13:17102. [PMID: 37816737 PMCID: PMC10564845 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-43677-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Sulfur (S) is an essential microelement for plants. Based on the chemical similarity between Se and S, selenium may affects sulphur uptake by plants. This work aimed at investigating the effect of foliar spray with sodium selenate, gum arabic coated selenium nanoparticles (GA-SeNPs ≈ 48.22 nm) and sodium sulfate on red kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) plants. Each treatment was used at 0.0, 1, 5, 10 and 50 µM, alone or combination of sodium sulfate with either Se or nano-Se, each at 0.5, 2.5 and 5 µM concentrations. The effect of foliar spray on vegetative growth, seed quality, and some metabolic constituents of red kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) plants were investigated. Selenium nanoparticles have been synthesized through the green route using gum arabic (as a stabilizing and coating agent. Foliar application of different concentrations of Se, nano-Se, Na2SO4 up to 10 μM and their interaction were effective in increasing the growth criteria (i.e. shoot and root lengths, plant fresh and dry weights, number of leaves and photosynthetic area (cm2 plant-1).There was also a significant increase in photosynthetic pigment contents, yield (i.e., 100-seed weight), total carbohydrate, crude proteins and mineral contents in both leaf as compared to their untreated control plants. Furthermore, interaction between sodium sulfate with nano-Se or Se, each at 5 µM significantly increased the vegetative growth, 100-seed weight, and pigment contents in leaves and improved the nutritional value and quality of red kidney bean seeds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nada Abouelhamd
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt
| | | | - A A Amin
- Department of Botany, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, 12622, Egypt
| | - Eman Zakaria Ahmed
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt.
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Wang B, Teng D, Yu C, Yao L, Ma X, Wu T. Increased sulfur-containing amino acid content and altered conformational characteristics of soybean proteins by rebalancing 11S and 7S compositions. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:828153. [PMID: 36119623 PMCID: PMC9478179 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.828153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Soybean proteins are limited by their low contents of methionine and cysteine. Herein, 7S globulin accumulation was reduced using RNA interference to silence CG-β-1 expression, and the content of the A2B1a subunit was largely increased under the soybean seed-specific oleosin8 promoter. The results showed that the sulfur-containing amino acid content in soybean seeds drastically improved, reaching 79.194 nmol/mg, and the 11S/7S ratio had a 1.89-fold increase compared to the wild-type acceptor. The secondary structures of 11S globulin were also altered, and the β-sheet content increased with decreasing β-turn content, which was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and circular dichroism analysis. Our findings suggested that raising the accumulation of 11S glycinin at the expense of reducing the content of 7S globulin is an attractive and precise engineering strategy to increase the amount of sulfur-containing amino acids, and soybean proteins with A2B1a subunits of 11S isolates improved, and β-subunits of 7S fractions reduced simultaneously might be an effective new material for food production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Biao Wang
- School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Collaborative Innovation Center of Agri-Seeds, Shanghai, China
| | - Da Teng
- College of Agriculture, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | - Cunhao Yu
- College of Agriculture, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | - Luming Yao
- School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Collaborative Innovation Center of Agri-Seeds, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiaohong Ma
- School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Tianlong Wu
- School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
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Jha UC, Nayyar H, Parida SK, Deshmukh R, von Wettberg EJB, Siddique KHM. Ensuring Global Food Security by Improving Protein Content in Major Grain Legumes Using Breeding and 'Omics' Tools. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:7710. [PMID: 35887057 PMCID: PMC9325250 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23147710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2022] [Revised: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 07/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Grain legumes are a rich source of dietary protein for millions of people globally and thus a key driver for securing global food security. Legume plant-based 'dietary protein' biofortification is an economic strategy for alleviating the menace of rising malnutrition-related problems and hidden hunger. Malnutrition from protein deficiency is predominant in human populations with an insufficient daily intake of animal protein/dietary protein due to economic limitations, especially in developing countries. Therefore, enhancing grain legume protein content will help eradicate protein-related malnutrition problems in low-income and underprivileged countries. Here, we review the exploitable genetic variability for grain protein content in various major grain legumes for improving the protein content of high-yielding, low-protein genotypes. We highlight classical genetics-based inheritance of protein content in various legumes and discuss advances in molecular marker technology that have enabled us to underpin various quantitative trait loci controlling seed protein content (SPC) in biparental-based mapping populations and genome-wide association studies. We also review the progress of functional genomics in deciphering the underlying candidate gene(s) controlling SPC in various grain legumes and the role of proteomics and metabolomics in shedding light on the accumulation of various novel proteins and metabolites in high-protein legume genotypes. Lastly, we detail the scope of genomic selection, high-throughput phenotyping, emerging genome editing tools, and speed breeding protocols for enhancing SPC in grain legumes to achieve legume-based dietary protein security and thus reduce the global hunger risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Uday C. Jha
- ICAR—Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR), Kanpur 208024, India
| | - Harsh Nayyar
- Department of Botany, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India;
| | - Swarup K. Parida
- National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi 110067, India;
| | - Rupesh Deshmukh
- National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute, Punjab 140308, India;
| | | | - Kadambot H. M. Siddique
- The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6001, Australia
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Current Status and Potential of Biofortification to Enhance Crop Nutritional Quality: An Overview. SUSTAINABILITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/su14063301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Around 2 billion people are suffering from chronic malnutrition or “hidden hunger”, which is the result of many diseases and disorders, including cognitive degeneration, stunting growth, and mortality. Thus, biofortification of staple food crops enriched with micronutrients is a more sustainable option for providing nutritional supplements and managing malnutrition in a society. Since 2001, when the concept of biofortification came to light, different research activities have been carried out, like the development of target populations, breeding or genetic engineering, and the release of biofortified cultivars, in addition to conducting nutritional efficacy trials and delivery plan development. Although, being a cost-effective intervention, it still faces many challenges, like easy accessibility of biofortified cultivars, stakeholders’ acceptance, and the availability of biofortified germplasm in the public domain, which varies from region to region. Hence, this review is focused on the recent potential, efforts made to crop biofortification, impacts analysis on human health, cost-effectiveness, and future perspectives to further strengthen biofortification programs. Through regular interventions of sustainable techniques and methodologies, biofortification holds huge potential to solve the malnutrition problem through regular interventions of nutrient-enriched staple food options for billions of people globally.
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Huang A, Coutu C, Harrington M, Rozwadowski K, Hegedus DD. Engineering a feedback inhibition-insensitive plant dihydrodipicolinate synthase to increase lysine content in Camelina sativa seeds. Transgenic Res 2021; 31:131-148. [PMID: 34802109 PMCID: PMC8821502 DOI: 10.1007/s11248-021-00291-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2021] [Accepted: 11/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Camelina sativa (camelina) is emerging as an alternative oilseed crop due to its short growing cycle, low input requirements, adaptability to less favorable growing environments and a seed oil profile suitable for biofuel and industrial applications. Camelina meal and oil are also registered for use in animal and fish feeds; however, like meals derived from most cereals and oilseeds, it is deficient in certain essential amino acids, such as lysine. In higher plants, the reaction catalyzed by dihydrodipicolinate synthase (DHDPS) is the first committed step in the biosynthesis of lysine and is subject to regulation by lysine through feedback inhibition. Here, we report enhancement of lysine content in C. sativa seed via expression of a feedback inhibition-insensitive form of DHDPS from Corynebacterium glutamicums (CgDHDPS). Two genes encoding C. sativa DHDPS were identified and the endogenous enzyme is partially insensitive to lysine inhibition. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to examine the impact of alterations, alone and in combination, present in lysine-desensitized DHDPS isoforms from Arabidopsis thaliana DHDPS (W53R), Nicotiana tabacum (N80I) and Zea mays (E84K) on C. sativa DHDPS lysine sensitivity. When introduced alone, each of the alterations decreased sensitivity to lysine; however, enzyme specific activity was also affected. There was evidence of molecular or structural interplay between residues within the C. sativa DHDPS allosteric site as coupling of the W53R mutation with the N80V mutation decreased lysine sensitivity of the latter, but not to the level with the W53R mutation alone. Furthermore, the activity and lysine sensitivity of the triple mutant (W53R/N80V/E84T) was similar to the W53R mutation alone or the C. glutamicum DHDPS. The most active and most lysine-insensitive C. sativa DHDPS variant (W53R) was not inhibited by free lysine up to 1 mM, comparable to the C. glutamicums enzyme. Seed lysine content increased 13.6 -22.6% in CgDHDPS transgenic lines and 7.6–13.2% in the mCsDHDPS lines. The high lysine-accumulating lines from this work may be used to produce superior quality animal feed with improved essential amino acid profile.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Huang
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 107 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 0X2, Canada
| | - Cathy Coutu
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 107 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 0X2, Canada
| | - Myrtle Harrington
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 107 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 0X2, Canada
| | - Kevin Rozwadowski
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 107 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 0X2, Canada
| | - Dwayne D Hegedus
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 107 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 0X2, Canada. .,Department of Food and Bioproduct Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
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Cabanos C, Matsuoka Y, Maruyama N. Soybean proteins/peptides: A review on their importance, biosynthesis, vacuolar sorting, and accumulation in seeds. Peptides 2021; 143:170598. [PMID: 34153351 DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2021.170598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2021] [Revised: 05/25/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Soybean is one of the most important sources of plant protein and is known for its wide range of agricultural, food, and industrial applications as well as health benefits. Interest in soybean proteins has been steadily growing as progressively more applications and benefits are discovered. This review article is focused on the major seed storage proteins of soybean, their three-dimensional structures, their nutritional importance and bioactive peptides, cellular synthesis, and accumulation in seeds. This will also summarize past efforts in the recombinant production of foreign proteins or bioactive peptides in soybean seed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cerrone Cabanos
- Laboratory of Food Quality Design and Development, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto, 611-0011, Japan
| | - Yuki Matsuoka
- Laboratory of Food Quality Design and Development, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto, 611-0011, Japan
| | - Nobuyuki Maruyama
- Laboratory of Food Quality Design and Development, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto, 611-0011, Japan.
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Girija A, Shotan D, Hacham Y, Amir R. The Level of Methionine Residues in Storage Proteins Is the Main Limiting Factor of Protein-Bound-Methionine Accumulation in Arabidopsis Seeds. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2020; 11:1136. [PMID: 32849697 PMCID: PMC7419676 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.01136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Accepted: 07/13/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The low level of methionine, an essential sulfur-containing amino acid, limits the nutritional quality of seeds. Two main factors can control the level of protein-bound methionine: the level of free methionine that limits protein accumulation and the methionine residues inside the storage proteins. To reveal the main limiting factor, we generated transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana seed-specific plants expressing the methionine-rich sunflower seed storage (SSA) protein (A1/A2). The contents of protein-bound methionine in the water-soluble protein fraction that includes the SSA in A1/A2 were 5.3- and 10.5-fold, respectively, compared to control, an empty vector (EV). This suggests that free methionine can support this accumulation. To elucidate if the level of free methionine could be increased further in the protein-bound methionine, these lines were crossed with previously characterized plants having higher levels of free methionine in seeds (called SSE). The progenies of the crosses (A1S, A2S) exhibited the highest level of protein-bound methionine, but this level did not differ significantly from A2, suggesting that all the methionine residues of A2 were filled with methionine. It also suggests that the content of methionine residues in the storage proteins is the main limiting factor. The results also proposed that the storage proteins can change their content in response to high levels of free methionine or SSA. This was assumed since the water-soluble protein fraction was highest in A1S/A2S as well as in SSE compared to EV and A1/A2. By using these seeds, we also aimed at gaining more knowledge about the link between high free methionine and the levels of metabolites that usually accumulate during abiotic stresses. This putative connection was derived from a previous analysis of SSE. The results of metabolic profiling showed that the levels of 29 and 20 out of the 56 metabolites were significantly higher in SSE and A1, respectively, that had higher level of free methionine, compared A1S/A2S, which had lower free methionine levels. This suggests a strong link between high free methionine and the accumulation of stress-associated metabolites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aiswarya Girija
- Department of Plant Science, MIGAL—Galilee Research Center, Kiryat Shmona, Israel
| | - David Shotan
- Department of Plant Science, MIGAL—Galilee Research Center, Kiryat Shmona, Israel
- Department of Biotechnology, Tel-Hai College, Upper Galilee, Israel
| | - Yael Hacham
- Department of Plant Science, MIGAL—Galilee Research Center, Kiryat Shmona, Israel
- Department of Biotechnology, Tel-Hai College, Upper Galilee, Israel
| | - Rachel Amir
- Department of Plant Science, MIGAL—Galilee Research Center, Kiryat Shmona, Israel
- Department of Biotechnology, Tel-Hai College, Upper Galilee, Israel
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L S, Vasu P. Cloning and expression of in silico modeled protein enriched with branched chain amino acids in Pichia pastoris. Int J Biol Macromol 2020; 146:739-745. [PMID: 31743710 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.10.133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2019] [Revised: 10/14/2019] [Accepted: 10/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
We have earlier in silico designed the 3-dimensional structure of a protein enriched with branched chain amino acids (BCAA, 56.4%), having only α-helical coiled-coil structure. Here, homology modeling was used to improve the in silico designed protein model. The secondary and tertiary structures of improved protein model were predicted, and validated using various online bioinformatics tools. The amino acid sequence of the final predicted Protein Model-51 was EQLTKLEIVIRVLKLLKLIGGLVSLVEWVLTALVTLLGDKVLDDILTDVIMLVKKIL DKVIGIVYVLAILALILSEVLDILWLLEKLVEILEGHHHHHH. The amino acid sequence of the protein model was reverse translated to DNA sequence and codons were optimized using codon optimization tool. The chemically synthesized BCAA51 gene was cloned to pPICZαC vector, and transformed into DH5α E. coli strain. After successful transformation, the protein was expressed in P. pastoris system by inducing with 0.5% methanol, every 24 h for up to 144 h. The expressed protein was purified by His Select Nickel affinity chromatography with an yield of 1.412 mg/L. The recombinant protein was confirmed by SDS-PAGE and western blot analysis, which showed a clear band at the expected molecular weight of ~11 kDa. Thus, here we have shown that the in silico designed protein is successfully cloned and expressed in P. pastoris.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunil L
- Department of Food Safety and Analytical Quality Control Laboratory, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru 570020, Karnataka, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Prasanna Vasu
- Department of Food Safety and Analytical Quality Control Laboratory, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru 570020, Karnataka, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, Uttar Pradesh, India.
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Amir R, Cohen H, Hacham Y. Revisiting the attempts to fortify methionine content in plant seeds. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2019; 70:4105-4114. [PMID: 30911752 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erz134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2018] [Accepted: 03/18/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The sulfur-containing amino acid methionine belongs to the group of essential amino acids, meaning that humans and animals must consume it in their diets. However, plant seeds have low levels of methionine, limiting their nutritional potential. For this reason, efforts have been made over the years to increase methionine levels in seeds. Here, we summarize these efforts and focus particularly on those utilizing diverse genetic and molecular tools. Four main approaches are described: (i) expression of methionine-rich storage proteins in a seed-specific manner to incorporate more soluble methionine into the protein fraction; (ii) reduction of methionine-poor storage proteins inside the seeds to reinforce the accumulation of methionine-rich proteins; (iii) silencing methionine catabolic enzymes; and (iv) up-regulation of key biosynthetic enzymes participating in methionine synthesis. We focus on the biosynthetic genes that operate de novo in seeds and that belong to the sulfur assimilation and aspartate family pathways, as well as genes from the methionine-specific pathway. We also include those enzymes that operate in non-seed tissues that contribute to the accumulation of methionine in seeds, such as S-methylmethionine enzymes. Finally, we discuss the biotechnological potential of these manipulations to increase methionine content in plant seeds and their effect on seed germination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel Amir
- Laboratory of Plant Science, Migal - Galilee Technology Center, Kiryat Shmona, Israel
- Tel-Hai College, Upper Galilee, Israel
| | - Hagai Cohen
- Department of Plant & Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Yael Hacham
- Laboratory of Plant Science, Migal - Galilee Technology Center, Kiryat Shmona, Israel
- Tel-Hai College, Upper Galilee, Israel
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Common Bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Accumulates Most S-Methylcysteine as Its γ-Glutamyl Dipeptide. PLANTS 2019; 8:plants8050126. [PMID: 31091711 PMCID: PMC6572574 DOI: 10.3390/plants8050126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2019] [Revised: 05/01/2019] [Accepted: 05/12/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) constitutes an excellent source of vegetable dietary protein. However, there are sub-optimal levels of the essential amino acids, methionine and cysteine. On the other hand, P. vulgaris accumulates large amounts of the γ-glutamyl dipeptide of S-methylcysteine, and lower levels of free S-methylcysteine and S-methylhomoglutathione. Past results suggest two distinct metabolite pools. Free S-methylcysteine levels are high at the beginning of seed development and decline at mid-maturation, while there is a biphasic accumulation of γ-glutamyl-S-methylcysteine, at early cotyledon and maturation stages. A possible model involves the formation of S-methylcysteine by cysteine synthase from O-acetylserine and methanethiol, whereas the majority of γ-glutamyl-S-methylcysteine may arise from S-methylhomoglutathione. Metabolite profiling during development and in genotypes differing in total S-methylcysteine accumulation showed that γ-glutamyl-S-methylcysteine accounts for most of the total S-methylcysteine in mature seed. Profiling of transcripts for candidate biosynthetic genes indicated that BSAS4;1 expression is correlated with both the developmental timing and levels of free S-methylcysteine accumulated, while homoglutathione synthetase (hGS) expression was correlated with the levels of γ-glutamyl-S-methylcysteine. Analysis of S-methylated phytochelatins by liquid chromatography and high resolution tandem mass spectrometry revealed only small amounts of homophytochelatin-2 with a single S-methylcysteine. The mitochondrial localization of phytochelatin synthase 2—predominant in seed, determined by confocal microscopy of a fusion with the yellow fluorescent protein—and its spatial separation from S-methylhomoglutathione may explain the lack of significant accumulation of S-methylated phytochelatins.
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Lombardo L, Grando MS. Genetically Modified Plants for Nutritionally Improved Food: A Promise Kept? FOOD REVIEWS INTERNATIONAL 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/87559129.2019.1613664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Luca Lombardo
- Center Agriculture Food Environment (C3A), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
- Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all’Adige, Italy
| | - Maria Stella Grando
- Center Agriculture Food Environment (C3A), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
- Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all’Adige, Italy
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Jiang SY, Ma A, Xie L, Ramachandran S. Improving protein content and quality by over-expressing artificially synthetic fusion proteins with high lysine and threonine constituent in rice plants. Sci Rep 2016; 6:34427. [PMID: 27677708 PMCID: PMC5039639 DOI: 10.1038/srep34427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2016] [Accepted: 09/13/2016] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Rice grains are rich in starch but low in protein with very low level of both lysine and threonine. Thus, it is important to further improve protein quality and quantity, especially to increase lysine and threonine content in rice grains. We artificially synthesized two new genes by fusing endogenous rice genes with lysine (K)/threonine (T) motif (TKTKK) coding sequences. They were designated as TKTKK1 and TKTKK2 and their encoded proteins consist of 73.1% and 83.5% of lysine/threonine, respectively. These two genes were under the control of 35S promoter and were independently introduced into the rice genome to generate transgenic plants. Our data showed that overexpression of TKTKK1 generated stable proteins with expected molecular weight and the transgenic rice seeds significantly increased lysine, threonine, total amino acids and crude protein content by 33.87%, 21.21%, 19.43% and 20.45%, respectively when compared with wild type control; significant improvement was also observed in transgenic rice seeds overexpressing TKTKK2. However, limited improvement in protein quality and quantity was observed in transgenic seeds carrying tandom array of these two new genes. Our data provide the basis and alternative strategy on further improving protein quality and quantity in other crops or vegetable plants by synthetic biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shu-Ye Jiang
- Rice Functional Genomics Group, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, 1 Research Link, National University of Singapore 117604, Singapore
| | - Ali Ma
- Rice Functional Genomics Group, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, 1 Research Link, National University of Singapore 117604, Singapore
| | - Lifen Xie
- Rice Functional Genomics Group, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, 1 Research Link, National University of Singapore 117604, Singapore
| | - Srinivasan Ramachandran
- Rice Functional Genomics Group, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, 1 Research Link, National University of Singapore 117604, Singapore
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Le DT, Chu HD, Le NQ. Improving Nutritional Quality of Plant Proteins Through Genetic Engineering. Curr Genomics 2016; 17:220-9. [PMID: 27252589 PMCID: PMC4869009 DOI: 10.2174/1389202917666160202215934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2015] [Revised: 05/23/2015] [Accepted: 06/01/2015] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans and animals are unable to synthesize essential amino acids such as branch chain amino acids methionine (Met), lysine (Lys) and tryptophan (Trp). Therefore, these amino acids need to be supplied through the diets. Several essential amino acids are deficient or completely lacking among crops used for human food and animal feed. For example, soybean is deficient in Met; Lys and Trp are lacking in maize. In this mini review, we will first summarize the roles of essential amino acids in animal nutrition. Next, we will address the question: “What are the amino acids deficient in various plants and their biosynthesis pathways?” And: “What approaches are being used to improve the availability of essential amino acids in plants?” The potential targets for metabolic engineering will also be discussed, including what has already been done and what remains to be tested.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dung Tien Le
- National Key Laboratory of Plant and Cell Technology, Agricultural Genetics Institute, Vietnam Academy of Agricul-tural Science, Pham Van Dong Str., Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Ha Duc Chu
- National Key Laboratory of Plant and Cell Technology, Agricultural Genetics Institute, Vietnam Academy of Agricul-tural Science, Pham Van Dong Str., Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Ngoc Quynh Le
- National Key Laboratory of Plant and Cell Technology, Agricultural Genetics Institute, Vietnam Academy of Agricul-tural Science, Pham Van Dong Str., Hanoi, Vietnam
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Pandurangan S, Sandercock M, Beyaert R, Conn KL, Hou A, Marsolais F. Differential response to sulfur nutrition of two common bean genotypes differing in storage protein composition. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2015; 6:92. [PMID: 25750649 PMCID: PMC4335288 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2015.00092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2014] [Accepted: 02/04/2015] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
It has been hypothesized that the relatively low concentration of sulfur amino acids in legume seeds might be an ecological adaptation to nutrient poor, marginal soils. SARC1 and SMARC1N-PN1 are genetically related lines of common bean (dry bean, Phaseolus vulgaris) differing in seed storage protein composition. In SMARC1N-PN1, the lack of phaseolin and major lectins is compensated by increased levels of sulfur-rich proteins, resulting in an enhanced concentration of cysteine and methionine, mostly at the expense of the abundant non-protein amino acid, S-methylcysteine. To identify potential effects associated with an increased concentration of sulfur amino acids in the protein pool, the response of the two genotypes to low and high sulfur nutrition was evaluated under controlled conditions. Seed yield was increased by the high sulfate treatment in SMARC1N-PN1. The seed concentrations of sulfur, sulfate, and S-methylcysteine were altered by the sulfur treatment in both genotypes. The concentration of total cysteine and extractible globulins was increased specifically in SMARC1N-PN1. Proteomic analysis identified arcelin-like protein 4, lipoxygenase-3, albumin-2, and alpha amylase inhibitor beta chain as having increased levels under high sulfur conditions. Lipoxygenase-3 accumulation was sensitive to sulfur nutrition only in SMARC1N-PN1. Under field conditions, both SARC1 and SMARC1N-PN1 exhibited a slight increase in yield in response to sulfur treatment, typical for common bean.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sudhakar Pandurangan
- Department of Biology, University of Western OntarioLondon, ON, Canada
- Genomics and Biotechnology, Southern Crop Protection and Food Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, ON, Canada
| | - Mark Sandercock
- Cereal Research Centre Morden, Agriculture and Agri-Food CanadaCanada, Morden, MB, Canada
| | - Ronald Beyaert
- Genomics and Biotechnology, Southern Crop Protection and Food Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, ON, Canada
| | - Kenneth L. Conn
- Genomics and Biotechnology, Southern Crop Protection and Food Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, ON, Canada
| | - Anfu Hou
- Cereal Research Centre Morden, Agriculture and Agri-Food CanadaCanada, Morden, MB, Canada
| | - Frédéric Marsolais
- Department of Biology, University of Western OntarioLondon, ON, Canada
- Genomics and Biotechnology, Southern Crop Protection and Food Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, ON, Canada
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