Abstract
In germinating oilseeds peroxisomal fatty acid beta-oxidation is responsible for the mobilization of storage lipids. This pathway also occurs in other tissues where it has a variety of additional physiological functions. The central enzymatic steps of peroxisomal beta-oxidation are performed by acyl-CoA oxidase (ACOX), the multifunctional protein (MFP) and 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase (thiolase). In order to investigate the function and regulation of beta-oxidation in plants it is first necessary to identify and characterize genes encoding the relevant enzymes in a single model species. Recently we and others have reported on the cloning and characterization of genes encoding four ACOXs and a thiolase from the oilseed Arabidopsis thaliana. Here we identify a gene encoding an Arabidopsis MFP (AtMFP2) that is induced transiently during germination. The pattern of AtMFP2 expression closely reflects changes in the activities of 2-trans-enoyl-CoA hydratase and L-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase. Similar patterns of expression have previously been reported for ACOX and thiolase genes. We conclude that genes encoding the three main proteins responsible for beta-oxidation are co-ordinately expressed during oilseed germination and may share a common mechanism of regulation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 95-99 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Biochemical Society transactions |
| Volume | 28 |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2000 |
Keywords
- lipid
- catabolism
- peroxisome
- MALATE SYNTHASE GENE
- MEDIUM-CHAIN
- PLANTS
- BIOSYNTHESIS
- ENZYMES
- THIOESTERASE
- PEROXISOMES
- ALIGNMENT
- THIOLASE
- PEPTIDE