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J Preiss

Publications and source records attributed to J Preiss.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

The Subunit Structure of Potato Tuber ADPglucose Pyrophosphorylase.

ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase has been extensively purified from potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tuber tissue to study its structure. By employing a modified published procedure (JR Sowokinos, J Preiss [1982] Plant Physiol 69: 1459-1466) together with Mono Q chromatography, a near homogeneous enzyme preparation was obtained with substantial improvement in enzyme yield and specific activity. In single dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels, the enzyme migrated as a single polypeptide band with a mobility of about 50,000 daltons. Analysis by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, however, revealed the presence of two types of subunits which could be distinguished by their slight differences in net charge and molecular weight. The smaller potato tuber subunit was recognized by antiserum prepared against the smaller spinach leaf 51 kilodalton ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase subunit. In contrast, the anti-54 kilodalton raised against the spinach leaf subunit did not significantly react to the tuber enzyme subunits. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the potato tuber ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase is not composed of a simple homotetramer as previously suggested, but is a product of two separate and distinct subunits as observed for the spinach leaf and maize enzymes.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1990

Purification of a beta-Amylase that Accumulates in Arabidopsis thaliana Mutants Defective in Starch Metabolism.

Amylase activity is elevated 5- to 10-fold in leaves of several different Arabidopsis thaliana mutants defective in starch metabolism when they are grown under a 12-hour photoperiod. Activity is also increased when plants are grown under higher light intensity. It was previously determined that the elevated activity was an extrachloroplastic beta-(exo)amylase. Due to the location of this enzyme outside the chloroplast, its function is not known. The enzyme was purified to homogeneity from leaves of both a starchless mutant deficient in plastid phosphoglucomutase and from the wild type using polyethylene glycol fractionation and cyclohexaamylose affinity chromatography. The molecular mass of the beta-amylase from both sources was 55,000 daltons as determined by denaturing gel electrophoresis. Gel filtration studies indicated that the enzyme was a monomer. The specific activities of the purified protein from mutant and wild-type sources, their substrate specificities, and K(m) for amylopectin were identical. Based on these results it was concluded that the mutant contained an increased level of beta-amylase protein. Enzyme neutralization studies using a polyclonal antiserum raised to purified beta-amylase showed that in each of two starchless mutants, one starch deficient mutant and one starch overproducing mutant, the elevated amylase activity was due to elevated beta-amylase protein.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1989

The encoded primary sequence of a rice seed ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase subunit and its homology to the bacterial enzyme.

Rice seed ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase cDNA clones were isolated by screening a lambda expression library prepared from rice endosperm poly(A+) RNA with a heterologous antibody raised against the spinach leaf enzyme and subsequently by nucleic acid hybridization. One cDNA plasmid, possessing about 1650 nucleotides, was shown by both DNA and RNA sequence analysis to contain the complete ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase coding sequence of 483 amino acids. The primary sequence displayed a putative leader peptide presumably required for transport of this nuclear encoded protein into the amyloplasts, a differentiated starch containing plastid. The leader peptide, however, showed little sequence homology with transit peptides displayed by other known nuclear encoded proteins localized in the chloroplasts. A comparison of the primary sequence of the putative mature subunit to the Escherichia coli pyrophosphorylase showed two regions displaying significant homology. These two conserved regions contain residues shown previously to be essential for the allosteric regulation and catalytic activity of the E. coli enzyme. Differences in the primary sequences of the plant and bacterial enzyme may reflect the distinct nature of the allosteric effectors that control these enzymes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Biosynthesis of bacterial glycogen. Determination of the amino acid changes that alter the regulatory properties of a mutant Escherichia coli ADP-glucose synthetase.

The ADP-glucose synthetase of Escherichia coli K12 mutant 618 has a higher apparent affinity for the activator, fructose 1,6-P2 and a lower apparent affinity for the inhibitor, 5'-AMP, than the normal enzyme. The structural gene, glgC, of the mutant enzyme has been cloned and sequenced (Lee, Y. M., Kumar, A., and Preiss, J. (1987) Nucleic Acids Res. 15, 10603). Substitutions in the mutant enzyme were amino acid residues 296 (Lys to Glu) and 336 (Gly to Asp). Single mutant enzymes, Glu296 and Asp336, were constructed using oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis. The Glu296 enzyme had the same allosteric kinetic constants as the wild type enzyme. The Asp336 enzyme was catalytically defective. Thus, the mutations at 296 and at 336 separately could not account for the allosteric alterations of the mutant enzyme. A hybrid glgC gene was prepared from genes of wild type and mutant 618 glgC using DNA recombinant techniques. The C-terminal portion of mutant 618 containing Glu296 and Asp336, combined with the N-terminal portion of wild type enzyme, showed allosteric and substrate kinetics similar to mutant 618 enzyme. Thus, alteration of the normal allosteric properties in mutant 618 are due to changes of both Lys296 to Glu and Gly336 to Asp.

Chromatography, Ion Exchange↗
PubMed1989

Altered regulation of beta-amylase activity in mutants of Arabidopsis with lesions in starch metabolism.

Three classes of mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynhold with alterations in starch metabolism were found to have higher levels of leaf amylase activity than the wild type when grown in a 12-hr photoperiod. This effect was dependent upon the developmental stage of the plants and was largely suppressed during growth in continuous light. The various amylolytic activities in crude extracts were separated by electrophoresis in nondenaturing polyacrylamide gels and visualized by activity staining. The increased amylase activity in the mutants was due to an up to 40-fold increase in the activity of an extrachloroplast beta-amylase (EC 3.2.1.2). These observations indicate the existence of a regulatory mechanism that controls the amount of beta-amylase activity in response to fluctuations in photosynthetic carbohydrate metabolism. It is paradoxical that beta-amylase appears to be a highly regulated enzyme, but as yet no physiologically relevant function can be assigned to this enzyme due to the absence of starch in the cytoplasmic compartment of leaf cells.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1989

Immunocytochemical Localization of ADPglucose Pyrophosphorylase in Developing Potato Tuber Cells.

The subcellular localization of ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase, a key regulatory enzyme in starch biosynthesis, was determined in developing potato tuber cells by immunocytochemical localization techniques at the light microscopy level. Specific labeling of ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase by either immunofluorescence or immunogold followed by silver enhancement was detected only in the amyloplasts and indicates that this enzyme is located exclusively in the amyloplasts in developing potato tuber cells. Labeling occurred on the starch grains and, in some instances, specific labeling patterns were evident which may be related to sites active in starch deposition.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1989

Genetic regulation of glycogen biosynthesis in Escherichia coli: in vitro effects of cyclic AMP and guanosine 5'-diphosphate 3'-diphosphate and analysis of in vivo transcripts.

Glycogen accumulation in Escherichia coli is inversely related to the growth rate and occurs most actively when cells enter the stationary phase. The levels of the three biosynthetic enzymes undergo corresponding changes under these conditions, suggesting that genetic control of enzyme biosynthesis may account for at least part of the regulation (J. Preiss, Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 38:419-458, 1984). We have begun to explore the molecular basis of this control by identifying factors which affect the expression of the glycogen genes and by determining the 5'-flanking regions required to mediate the regulatory effects. The in vitro coupled transcription-translation of two of the biosynthetic genes, glgC (ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase) and glgA (glycogen synthase), was enhanced up to 26- and 10-fold, respectively, by cyclic AMP (cAMP) and cAMP receptor protein (CRP). Guanosine 5'-diphosphate 3'-diphosphate stimulated the expression of these genes 3.6- and 1.8-fold, respectively. The expression of glgB (glycogen branching enzyme) was affected weakly or negligibly by the above-mentioned compounds. Assays which measured the in vitro formation of the first dipeptide of glgC showed that a restriction fragment which contained 0.5 kilobases of DNA upstream from the initiation codon supported cAMP-CRP-activated expression. Sequence-specific binding of cAMP-CRP to a 243-base-pair restriction fragment from the region upstream from glgC was observed by virtue of the altered electrophoretic mobility of the bound DNA. S1 nuclease protection analysis identified 5' termini of four in vivo transcripts within 0.5 kilobases of the glgC coding region. The relative concentrations of transcripts were higher in the early stationary phase than in the exponential phase. Two mutants which overproduced the biosynthesis enzymes accumulated elevated levels of specific transcripts. The 5' termini of three of the transcripts were mapped to a high resolution. Their upstream sequences showed weak similarity to the E. coli consensus promoter. These results suggest complex transcriptional regulation of the glycogen biosynthesis genes involving multiple promoter sites and direct control of gene expression by at least two global regulatory systems.

Cell-Free System↗
PubMed1989

[Epilepsy and the speed of learning motor skills].

In 64 epileptics (mean age 35.7 years, mean onset of the disease at the age of 12.1 years) the author used a test of learning a series of movements (TOSP B). It involves the performance of a series of three asymmetrical movements maximal speed of learning is evaluated. Patients with epilepsy have a significantly reduced rate of motor learning, as compared with two comparable group of healthy subjects (104 and 67 subjects). Patients with a favourable course of the disease (n = 24) are significantly quicker than patients with an adverse development of the disease (n = 40). The author discusses the revealed significant correlation with the duration of the disease, contact with psychiatry, later onset of the disease, IQ and education, Contrary to expectations, the correlation with age was not significant, the factor of the disease being more important than the factor of ageing. Tests of asymmetrical movements are sensitive for the detection of relatively subclinical symptoms of cerebral affections. They prove useful as a stable part of neuropsychological examinations in epileptic patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Lateralization of the epileptic process and psychology].

In a group of 70 patients with a unilateral epileptic process in the temporal limbic structures, localized in the left half of the brain in 38 patients (26 men, 12 women) and in the right half of the brain in 32 patients (17 men, 15 women) the lateralization of motor functions, asymmetry of emotional mimicry, conjugated deviation of the eye bulbs, intellect, memory, psychomotor rate and personality (laterality test of Matĕjcek--Zlab, Wechsler's intellect and memory scale, Benton, Stroop, VAROS, SUPOS, DSF, Washington Psychosocial--Seizure Inventory WPSI was investigated. Patient with a left-sided epileptic process had only insignificantly lower contact with psychiatry (31.6% as compared with 40.6%). Significantly lower contacts with psychiatry were recorded in 35 patients with a predominance of emotional mimicry (while smiling) on the left (25.0% as compared with 47.1%, p less than 0.05) and particularly significantly low in 18 patients with a combination of signs left-sided epileptic process + predominance of emotional mimicry on the left + deviation of the eyeballs on the right (mathematical stimulus) + genotypical righthandedness (16.7% as compared with 42.3%, p less than 0.025). Men with a left-sided epileptic process displayed a significantly greater anxiety, in women this trend was only indicated. Four women with a left-sided epileptic process anticipating regulation of behaviour was typical, for women with a right-sided epileptic process lower autoregulating inhibitions. A left-sided epileptic process had significantly more often a favourable course of epilepsy (in 65.8% as compared with 25.0%, p less than 0.005). In psychological tests, however, the differentiating criteria were much more than the course of the disease invalid pension, contact with psychiatry and subjective need of assistance from a psychiatrist or psychologist.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Initial experience with the Czech version of the Washington Psychosocial Seizure Inventory].

The Czech version of the Washington psychosocial questionnaire for paroxysmal diseases (WPSI) was presented to 100 ambulatory patients selected at random at the Regional Clinic for Paroxysmal Diseases in Prague (55 men, 45 women). The results are compared with data in the literature on samples from other countries; the Czech sample has mostly median values. Comparison of the sub-groups of the Czech group revealed differences by sex (women had more problems in the scale of family background, men in the scale of vocational adjustment), by the duration of the disease (with a shorter duration of the disease greater financial difficulties were associated), and by the neurologist's evaluation of the development of the disease (on the whole patients with a favourable development of the disease had significantly more often a high score of the lie scale-40.5%). Those patients with a favourable development of the disease who had the score of the lie scale in the normal range had greater difficulties with interpersonal adaptation and adaptation at work than patients with an adverse development of the disease.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1988

Crystallization and preliminary diffraction data of Escherichia coli ADP glucose pyrophosphorylase.

ADP glucose pyrophosphorylase from Escherichia coli has been crystallized from polyethylene glycol 8000 solutions. The crystals are: orthorhombic, a = 155(2), b = 153(2), c = 174(2) A, space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), four tetrameric molecules/unit cell. This gives a solvent fraction of about 75% consistent with the relatively poor diffraction quality of crystals (5.0-A resolution) and their sensitivity to x-ray exposure damage. Ways of circumventing the former and improving the latter are proposed.

Crystallization↗
PubMed1988

Analysis of the Escherichia coli glycogen gene cluster suggests that catabolic enzymes are encoded among the biosynthetic genes.

The nucleotide sequences of the Escherichia coli genome between the glycogen biosynthetic genes glgB and glgC, and 1170 bp of DNA which follows glgA have been determined. The region between glgB and glgC contains an open reading frame (ORF) of 1521 bp which we call glgX. This ORF is capable of coding for an Mr 56,684 protein. The deduced amino acid (aa) sequence for the putative product shows significant similarity to the E. coli glycogen branching enzyme, and to several different glucan hydrolases and transferases. The regions of sequence similarity include residues which have been reported to be involved in substrate binding and catalysis by taka-amylase. This suggests that the proposed product may catalyze hydrolysis or glycosyl-transferase reactions. The cloned region which follows glgA contains an incomplete ORF (1149 bp), glgY, which appears to encode 383 aa of the N terminus of glycogen phosphorylase, based upon sequence similarity with the enzyme from rabbit muscle (47% identical aa residues) and with maltodextrin phosphorylase from E. coli (37% identical aa residues). Results suggest that neither ORF is required for glycogen biosynthesis. The localization of glycogen biosynthetic and degradative genes together in a cluster may facilitate the regulation of these systems in vivo.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1988

Biosynthesis of bacterial glycogen. Use of site-directed mutagenesis to probe the role of tyrosine 114 in the catalytic mechanism of ADP-glucose synthetase from Escherichia coli.

Previous covalent modification studies showed that tyrosine 114 of Escherichia coli ADP-glucose synthetase is involved in substrate binding (Lee, Y. M., and Preiss, J. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 1058-1064). We have prepared, via site-directed mutagenesis, an E. coli ADP-glucose synthetase variant (Phe114) containing a Tyr114 to Phe substitution in order to test whether the phenolic hydroxyl group plays a critical role in catalysis. Kinetic characterization of Phe114 ADP-glucose synthetase indicates that the Tyr114 hydroxyl is not obligatory for the enzyme catalysis. However, the variant enzyme showed altered properties. It showed a decreased apparent affinity for the substrates. The variant enzyme showed less than 2-fold activation by 5 mM fructose 1,6-bisphosphate in the ADP-glucose synthesis direction. In contrast, in the pyrophosphorolysis direction, the mutant enzyme showed about a 30-fold activation by 5 mM fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. The variant enzyme is heat-labile compared to wild type enzyme. It lost about 60% enzyme activity on incubation at 65 degrees C for 5 min in the presence of 30 mM Pi. The wild type enzyme is stable under these conditions. The results indicate that tyrosine 114 is involved directly or indirectly in enzyme catalysis, but is not obligatory for the enzyme catalysis. Conversion of Tyr114 to Phe also alters the regulatory properties of the enzyme with respect to activation by fructose-1,6-P2 and inhibition by AMP.

Enzyme Stability↗
PubMed1988

Affinity labeling of the allosteric activator site(s) of spinach leaf ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase.

Pyridoxal-P has been shown to be an activator of the spinach leaf ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase. It has a higher apparent affinity than the physiological activator 3-phosphoglycerate but only activates the enzyme activity 6-fold whereas 3-phosphoglycerate gives a 25-fold activation. Reductive phosphopyridoxylation of the spinach leaf enzyme results in enzyme having less dependence on the presence of activator for activity. Labeled pyridoxal-P is incorporated into both the 54- and 51-kilodalton subunits of the spinach leaf enzyme. The incorporation is inhibited by the presence of either 3-phosphoglycerate or the allosteric inhibitor, inorganic phosphate, thus suggesting that pyridoxal phosphate is covalently bound to the allosteric activator site. The pyridoxal phosphate is bound to an epsilon-amino group of a lysine residue. The phosphopyridoxylated enzyme is more resistant to phosphate inhibition than the unmodified form. The modified 51-kDa subunit has been digested with trypsin, and the peptide containing the labeled pyridoxal phosphate has been purified via high performance liquid chromatography and sequenced. Comparison of this sequence with the deduced amino acid sequence of a rice endosperm cDNA clone indicates that the putative allosteric site of the 51-kDa subunit is close to the carboxyl-terminal. This is in contrast to what had been demonstrated for the position of the activator site of the Escherichia coli ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase which was shown to be close to the amino-terminal of the subunit.

Affinity Labels↗
PubMed1988

Subcellular localization and characterization of amylases in Arabidopsis leaf.

Amylolytic enzymes of Arabidopsis leaf tissue were partially purified and characterized. Endoamylase, starch phosphorylase, d-enzyme (transglycosylase), and possibly exoamylase were found in the chloroplasts. Endoamylase, fraction A2, found only in the chloroplast, was resolved from the exoamylases by chromatography on a Mono Q column and migrated with an R(F) of 0.44 on 7% polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Exoamylase fraction, A1, has an R(F) of 0.23 on the polyacrylamide gel. Viscometric analysis showed that A1 has a slope of 0.013, which is same as that of A3, the extrachloroplastic amylase. A1, however, can be distinguished from A3 by having much higher amylolytic activity in succinate buffer than acetate buffer, and having much less reactivity with amylose. A1 probably is also localized in the chloroplast, and contributes to the 30 to 40% higher amylolytic activity of the chloroplast preparation in succinate than acetate buffer at pH 6.0. The high activity of d-enzyme compared to the amylolytic activity in the chloroplast suggests that transglycosylation probably has an important role during starch degradation in Arabidopsis leaf. Extrachloroplastic amylase, A3, has an R(F) of 0.55 on 7% electrophoretic gel and constitutes 80% of the total leaf amylolytic activity. The results of substrate specificity studies, action pattern and viscometric analyses indicate that the extrachloroplastic amylases are exolytic.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1988

Characterization of d-Enzyme (4-alpha-Glucanotransferase) in Arabidopsis Leaf.

Two major forms of d-enzyme (4-alpha-glucanotransferase, EC 2.4.1.25) were successfully separated from most of the amylase activity using FPLC-Mono Q column chromatography. Transfer of a maltosyl group was observed upon the incubation of d-enzyme with maltotriose and d-[U-(14) C]glucose. About 4.5% of the radioactivity was transferred to maltotriose in 2 hours. End product analysis showed the accumulation of glucose and maltopentaose from maltotriose within the first 10 minutes of the reaction. Several other maltodextrins were also observed with longer incubation times, although maltose was never produced. A quantitative measurement of maltodextrin production from the reaction of [(14) C]maltotriose with d-enzyme showed that the quantity of maltotriose decreased from 100% to 31% after 3 hours incubation, while glucose, maltotetraose, maltopentaose, maltohexaose, maltoheptaose, maltooctaose, and higher maltodextrins increased in amount. Glucose is the major product throughout the course of the reaction of d-enzyme with maltotriose. Maltotriose, in addition to glucose, are the major products in the reaction of d-enzyme with maltodextrins with a chain length greater than maltotriose. This study confirms the existence of a transglycosylase that disproportionates maltotriose and higher maltodextrins by transferring maltosyl or maltodextrinyl groups between maltodextrins resulting in the production of glucose and different maltodextrins, but not maltose, in leaf tissue with enzymic properties very similar to the previously reported d-enzyme in potato.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1988

Isolation and Characterization of a Starchless Mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh Lacking ADPglucose Pyrophosphorylase Activity.

A mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana lacking ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase activity (EC 2.7.7.27) was isolated (from a mutagenized population of plants) by screening for the absence of leaf starch. The mutant grows as vigorously as the wild type in continuous light but more slowly than the wild type in a 12 hours light/12 hours dark photoperiod. Genetic analysis showed that the deficiency of both starch and ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase activity were attributable to a single, nuclear, recessive mutation at a locus designated adg1. The absence of starch in the mutant demonstrates that starch synthesis in the chloroplast is entirely dependent on a pathway involving ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase. Analysis of leaf extracts by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by Western blotting experiments using antibodies specific for spinach ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase showed that two proteins, present in the wild type, were absent from the mutant. The heterozygous F(1) progeny of a cross between the mutant and wild type had a specific activity of ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase indistinguishable from the wild type. These observations suggest that the mutation in the adg1 gene in TL25 might affect a regulatory locus.

Journal Article↗