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N G Lewis

Publications and source records attributed to N G Lewis.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Regiochemical control of monolignol radical coupling: a new paradigm for lignin and lignan biosynthesis.

BACKGROUND: Although the lignins and lignans, both monolignol-derived coupling products, account for nearly 30% of the organic carbon circulating in the biosphere, the biosynthetic mechanism of their formation has been poorly understood. The prevailing view has been that lignins and lignans are produced by random free-radical polymerization and coupling, respectively. This view is challenged, mechanistically, by the recent discovery of dirigent proteins that precisely determine both the regiochemical and stereoselective outcome of monolignol radical coupling. RESULTS: To understand further the regulation and control of monolignol coupling, leading to both lignan and lignin formation, we sought to clone the first genes encoding dirigent proteins from several species. The encoding genes, described here, have no sequence homology with any other protein of known function. When expressed in a heterologous system, the recombinant protein was able to confer strict regiochemical and stereochemical control on monolignol free-radical coupling. The expression in plants of dirigent proteins and proposed dirigent protein arrays in developing xylem and in other lignified tissues indicates roles for these proteins in both lignan formation and lignification. CONCLUSIONS: The first understanding of regiochemical and stereochemical control of monolignol coupling in lignan biosynthesis has been established via the participation of a new class of dirigent proteins. Immunological studies have also implicated the involvement of potential corresponding arrays of dirigent protein sites in controlling lignin biopolymer assembly.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1998

The macromolecular aromatic domain in suberized tissue: a changing paradigm.

As a structural feature of specialized cell walls, suberization remains an enigma, despite its obvious importance both during normal growth and development and as a stress response in plants. While it is clear that suberized tissues contain both polyaromatic and polyaliphatic domains, and that each of these has its own unique characteristics, whether there is a contiguous macromolecule that can be called suberin is an open question. From a structural perspective, the aromatic domain is unique and distinct from lignin, and is apparently comprised primarily of (poly)hydroxycinnamates, such as amides (e.g., feruloyltyramine). The aliphatic domain is also unique, being quite distinct from cutin in terms of both its chemical composition and cellular location. In the present paper, histochemical, structural and biochemical data, particularly, regarding the polyaromatic domain of suberized tissues, are critically reviewed. A revised description of the polyaromatic domain of suberized tissues, based on the consensus that is emerging from the current data, is presented and especially includes a spatially distinct (poly)hydroxycinnamoyl-containing macromolecule.

Cell Wall↗
PubMed1998

Nitrogen recycling during phenylpropanoid metabolism in sweet potato tubers.

In the first step of the phenylpropanoid metabolic pathway, L-phenylalanine (L-Phe) is deaminated to form E-cinnamate, in a conversion catalyzed by phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL; EC 4.3.1.5). The metabolic fate of the ammonium ion (NH4+) produced in this reaction was investigated in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) tuber discs. [15N]-Labeled substrates including L-Phe, in the presence or absence of specific enzyme inhibitors, were administered to sweet potato discs in light under aseptic conditions. 15N-Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic analyses revealed that the 15NH4+ liberated during the PAL reaction is first incorporated into the amide nitrogen of L-glutamine (L-Gln) and then into L-glutamate (L-Glu). These results extend our previous observations in pine and potato that PAL-generated NH4+ is assimilated by the glutamine synthetase (GS; EC 6.3.1.2)/glutamate synthase (GOGAT; EC 1.4.1.13) pathway, with the NH4+ so formed ultimately being recycled back to L-Phe via L-Glu as aminoreceptor and donor.

Ammonium Chloride↗
PubMed1997

Stereoselective bimolecular phenoxy radical coupling by an auxiliary (dirigent) protein without an active center.

The regio- and stereospecificity of bimolecular phenoxy radical coupling reactions, of especial importance in lignin and lignan biosynthesis, are clearly controlled in some manner in vivo; yet in vitro coupling by oxidases, such as laccases, only produce racemic products. In other words, laccases, peroxidases, and comparable oxidases are unable to control regio- or stereospecificity by themselves and thus some other agent must exist. A 78-kilodalton protein has been isolated that, in the presence of an oxidase or one electron oxidant, effects stereoselective bimolecular phenoxy radical coupling in vitro. Itself lacking a catalytically active (oxidative) center, its mechanism of action is presumed to involve capture of E-coniferyl alcohol-derived free-radical intermediates, with consequent stereoselective coupling to give (+)-pinoresinol.

Dimerization↗
PubMed1997

Oxygen insertion in Sesamum indicum furanofuran lignans. Diastereoselective syntheses of enzyme substrate analogues.

The furofuran lignans in sesame seed have an unusual oxygen insertion between their furan and aryl rings. In our continuing investigations on the isolation and characterization of the enzyme(s) involved, the diastereoselective syntheses of various substrate analogues for the oxygen insertion step were developed for future substrate specificity and inhibitor studies. This synthetic strategy also provided entry to so-called furofuranone epoxy-lignans, such as salicifoliol from Bupleurum sp., and acuminatolide from Helichrysum sp.

Dioxoles↗
PubMed1996

(+)-Pinoresinol/(+)-lariciresinol reductase from Forsythia intermedia. Protein purification, cDNA cloning, heterologous expression and comparison to isoflavone reductase.

Lignans are a widely distributed class of natural products, whose functions and distribution suggest that they are one of the earliest forms of defense to have evolved in vascular plants; some, such as podophyllotoxin and enterodiol, have important roles in cancer chemotherapy and prevention, respectively. Entry into lignan enzymology has been gained by the approximately 3000-fold purification of two isoforms of (+)-pinoresinol/(+)-lariciresinol reductase, a pivotal branchpoint enzyme in lignan biosynthesis. Both have comparable ( approximately 34.9 kDa) molecular mass and kinetic (Vmax/Km) properties and catalyze sequential, NADPH-dependent, stereospecific, hydride transfers where the incoming hydride takes up the pro-R position. The gene encoding (+)-pinoresinol/(+)-lariciresinol reductase has been cloned and the recombinant protein heterologously expressed as a functional beta-galactosidase fusion protein. Its amino acid sequence reveals a strong homology to isoflavone reductase, a key branchpoint enzyme in isoflavonoid metabolism and primarily found in the Fabaceae (angiosperms). This is of great evolutionary significance since both lignans and isoflavonoids have comparable plant defense properties, as well as similar roles as phytoestrogens. Given that lignans are widespread from primitive plants onwards, whereas the isoflavone reductase-derived isoflavonoids are mainly restricted to the Fabaceae, it is tempting to speculate that this branch of the isoflavonoid pathway arose via evolutionary divergence from that giving the lignans.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1996

Nitrogen metabolism in Lignifying Pinus taeda cell cultures.

The primary metabolic fate of phyenylalanine, following its deamination in plants, is conscription of its carbon skeleton for lignin, suberin, flavonoid, and related metabolite formation. Since this accounts for approximately 30-40% of all organic carbon, an effective means of recycling the liberated ammonium ion must be operative. In order to establish how this occurs, the uptake and metabolism of various 15N-labeled precursors (15N-Phe, 15NH4Cl, 15N-Gln, and 15N-Glu) in lignifying Pinus taeda cell cultures was investigated, using a combination of high performance liquid chromatography, 15N NMR, and gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry analyses. It was found that the ammonium ion released during active phenylpropanoid metabolism was not made available for general amino acid/protein synthesis. Rather it was rapidly recycled back to regenerate phenylalanine, thereby providing an effective means of maintaining active phenylpropanoid metabolism with no additional nitrogen requirement. These results strongly suggest that, in lignifying cells, ammonium ion reassimilation is tightly compartmentalized.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1995

Purification and characterization of taxa-4(5),11(12)-diene synthase from Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia) that catalyzes the first committed step of taxol biosynthesis.

The first step in the biosynthesis of taxol in Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia) is the cyclization of the universal diterpene precursor geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate to taxa-4(5),11(12)-diene. This parent olefin of the taxane diterpenoids is then elaborated to taxol and related compounds by a complex series of reactions involving oxidations and side-chain acylations. Cyclization activity is located principally in yew stem bark and adhering cambium. The operationally soluble cyclization enzyme was partially purified (approximately 600-fold) by combination of anion exchange, hydrophobic interaction, and dye-ligand chromatography. Nondenaturing, followed by denaturing, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, in combination with gel permeation chromatography, allowed the identification of taxadiene synthase as a monomeric protein of molecular weight 79,000. In general properties (divalent metal ion requirement, kinetic constants, molecular weight), the taxadiene synthase of Pacific yew is similar to the diterpene cyclase abietadiene synthase involved in resin acid biosynthesis in other gymnosperms. However, in pH optimum and response to inhibitors, these two diterpene cyclases are distinctly different. The activity (and enzyme protein) levels of Pacific yew taxadiene synthase are much lower than those for abietadiene synthase of lodgepole pine stem (constitutive) or of grand fir stem (wound-inducible) and the enzyme is not inducible to higher levels by stem wounding or elicitor treatment.

Alkenes↗
PubMed1995

Cyclization of geranylgeranyl diphosphate to taxa-4(5),11(12)-diene is the committed step of taxol biosynthesis in Pacific yew.

The biosynthesis of taxol (paclitaxel) and related taxoids in Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia) is thought to involve the cyclization of geranylgeranyl diphosphate to a taxadiene followed by extensive oxygenation of this diterpene olefin intermediate. A cell-free preparation from sapling yew stems catalyzed the conversion of [1-3H]geranylgeranyl diphosphate to a cyclic diterpene olefin that, when incubated with stem sections, was converted in good radiochemical yield to several highly functionalized taxanes, including 10-deacetyl baccatin III and taxol itself. Addition of the labeled olefin to a yew bark extract, followed by radiochemically guided fractionation, provided sufficient product to establish the structure as taxa-4(5),11(12)-diene by two-dimensional NMR spectroscopic methods. Therefore, the first dedicated step in taxol biosynthesis is the conversion of the universal diterpenoid precursor geranylgeranyl diphosphate to taxa-4(5),11(12)-diene, rather than to the 4(20),11(12)-diene isomer previously suggested on the basis of the abundance of taxoids with double bonds in these positions. The very common occurrence of taxane derivatives bearing the 4(20)-ene-5-oxy functional grouping, and the lack of oxygenated derivatives bearing a 4(5)-double bond, suggest that hydroxylation at C-5 of taxadiene with allylic rearrangement of the double bond is an early step in the conversion of this olefin intermediate to taxol.

Alkenes↗
PubMed1995

Hydroxycinnamic acid-derived polymers constitute the polyaromatic domain of suberin.

Suberin is an abundant, complex, intractable, plant cell wall polymeric network that forms both protective and wound-healing layers. Its function is, therefore, critical to the survival of all vascular plants. Its chemical structure and biosynthesis are poorly defined, although it is known to consist of both aromatic and aliphatic domains. While the composition of the aliphatic component has been fairly well characterized, that of the phenolic component has not. Using a combination of specific carbon-13 labeling techniques, and in situ solid state 13C NMR spectroscopic analysis, we now provide the first direct evidence for the nature of the phenolic domain of suberin and report here that it is almost exclusively comprised of a covalently linked, hydroxycinnamic acid-derived polymeric matrix.

Coumaric Acids↗
PubMed1995

Towards the specification of consecutive steps in macromolecular lignin assembly.

When Pinus taeda cell suspension cultures are exposed to 8% sucrose solution, the cells undergo significant intracellular disruption, irregular wall thickening/lignification with concomitant formation of an 'extracellular lignin precipitate. However, addition of potassium iodide (KI), an H202 scavenger, inhibits this lignification response, while the ability to synthesize the monolignols, p-coumaryl and coniferyl alcohols, is retained. Lignin synthesis (i.e. polymerization) is thus temporarily correlated with H202 generation, strongly implying a regulatory role for the latter. Time course analyses of extracellular metabolites leading up to polymer formation reveal that coniferyl alcohol, but not p-coumaryl alcohol, undergoes substantial coupling reactions to give various lignans. Of these, the metabolites, dihydrodehydrodiconiferyl alcohol, shonanin (divanillyl tetrahydrofuran) and its apparent aryl tetralin derivative, cannot be explained simply on the basis of phenolic coupling. It is proposed that these moieties are the precursors of so-called reduced substructures in the lignin macromolecule. This adds a new perspective to the lignin assembly mechanism.

Cell Wall↗
PubMed1993

Stereospecificity of (+)-pinoresinol and (+)-lariciresinol reductases from Forsythia intermedia.

Pinoresinol/lariciresinol reductase catalyzes the first known example of a highly unusual benzylic ether reduction in plants; its mechanism of hydride transfer is described. The enzyme was found in Forsythia intermedia and catalyzes the presumed regulatory branch-points in the pathway leading to benzylaryltetrahydrofuran, dibenzylbutane, dibenzylbutyrolactone, and aryltetrahydronaphthalene lignans. Using [7,7'-2H2]-pinoresinol and [7,7'-2H3]lariciresinol as substrates, the hydride transfers of the highly unusual reductase were demonstrated to be completely stereospecific (> 99%). The incoming hydrides were found to take up the pro-R position at C-7' (and/or C-7) in lariciresinol and secoisolariciresinol, thereby eliminating the possibility of random hydride delivery to a planar quinone methide intermediate. As might be expected, the mode of hydride abstraction from NADPH was also stereospecific: using [4R-3H] and [4S-3H]NADPH, it was found that only the 4 pro-R hydrogen was abstracted for enzymatic hydride transfer.

Lignin↗
PubMed1993

Lignification in cell suspension cultures of Pinus taeda. In situ characterization of a gymnosperm lignin.

Pinus taeda suspension cultures grown in medium containing 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid showed only primary cell wall formation and essentially no lignification, as determined by histochemical, ultrastructural, chemical, and NMR spectroscopic analyses. However, these cultures maintained a functional phenylpropanoid pathway as demonstrated by formation of the lignans (-)-matairesinol and (-)-pinoresinol. Administration of [1-13C]Phe to these cultures, followed by solid-state carbon-13 NMR spectral analysis of their cell walls, demonstrated that the phenylalanine incorporated into the cell wall matrix was primarily as protein, rather than lignin. Successive transfer of the 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid-grown cultures to alpha-naphthaleneacetic acid-containing medium induced cell wall thickening concomitant with lignification. The presence of lignin was confirmed by histochemical, ultrastructural, chemical, biochemical, and NMR spectroscopic analyses. Specific labeling of the lignin polymer in situ with [1-13C]-, [2-13C]-, and [3-13C]Phe and analysis of the cell wall preparations by solid-state carbon-13 NMR spectroscopy permitted the first direct determination of the in situ bonding patterns in a gymnosperm lignin. Several dominant interunit linkages were observed, including beta-O-aryl, furanofuran, phenylcoumarin, and phenolic-linked monolignols, consistent with those predicted but hitherto not proven. Finally, milled wood lignin derivatives prepared from these 13C-specifically enriched lignin tissues gave a relatively high fidelity copy of the native lignin.

Cell Wall↗
PubMed1992

Alkyl ferulates in wound healing potato tubers.

Seven ferulic acid esters of 1-alkanols ranging in carbon length from C16 to C28 were synthesized and an HPLC protocol for their separation developed. Extracts prepared from wound healing potato (Solanum tuberosum) tubers and analysed by HPLC indicated that alkyl ferulate esters begin to accumulate 3-7 days after wound treatment. Of the nine esters identified by EIMS, (including two esters of odd chain length alkanols) hexadecyl and octadecyl ferulates were predominant. Alkyl ferulate esters were restricted to the wound periderm.

Carbon↗
PubMed1992

On the stereoselective synthesis of (+)-pinoresinol in Forsythia suspensa from its achiral precursor, coniferyl alcohol.

The residue from Forsythia suspensa stems, upon removal of soluble enzymes, has provided the first evidence for a stereoselective coupling enzyme in lignan biosynthesis. This preparation catalyses the preferred formation (ca 65%) of (+)-[8,8'-14C]pinoresinol from [8-14C]coniferyl alcohol in the absence of exogenously provided cofactors; addition of H2O2 had little effect on enantiomeric composition. However, when NAD and malate were supplied, the stereoselectivity of the coupling reaction was significantly enhanced and pinoresinol consisting of ca 80% of the (+)-antipode was obtained. Clearly, the insoluble residue contains a specific coupling enzyme which catalyses (+)-pinoresinol formation from coniferyl alcohol. By contrast, when [8-14C]sinapyl alcohol was employed as substrate, only racemic syringaresinols were formed: this non-stereoselective peroxidase-catalysed coupling reaction presumably accounts for the low levels of (-)-pinoresinol encountered in this system when coniferyl alcohol is used as a substrate.

Hydrogen Peroxide↗
PubMed1992

An extraordinary accumulation of (-)-pinoresinol in cell-free extracts of Forsythia intermedia: evidence for enantiospecific reduction of (+)-pinoresinol.

Stereoselective and enantiospecific transformation mechanisms in lignan biogenesis are only now yielding to scientific inquiry: it has been shown that soluble cell-free preparations from Forsythia intermedia catalyse the formation of the enantiomerically pure lignan, (-)-secoisolariciresinol, when incubated with coniferyl alcohol in the presence of NAD(P)H and H2O2. Surprisingly, (-)-pinoresinol also accumulates in this soluble cell-free assay mixture in > 96% enantiomeric excess, even though it is not the naturally occurring antipode present in Forsythia sp. But these soluble cell-free preparations do not engender stereoselective coupling; instead, racemic pinoresinols are first formed, catalysed by an H2O2-dependent peroxidase reaction. An enantiospecific NAD(P)H reductase then converts (+)-pinoresinol, and not the (-)-antipode, into (-)-secoisolariciresinol. Stereoselective synthesis [correction of syntheis] of (+)-pinoresinol from E-coniferyl alcohol is, however, catalysed by an insoluble enzyme preparation in F. suspensa, obtained following removal of readily soluble and ionically bound enzymes; no exogenously supplied cofactors were required other than oxygen, although the reaction was stimulated by NAD-malate addition. Thus, the overall biochemical pathway to enantiomerically pure (-)-secoisolariciresinol has been delineated.

Hydrogen Peroxide↗
PubMed1991

Formation of lignans (-)-secoisolariciresinol and (-)-matairesinol with Forsythia intermedia cell-free extracts.

In vivo labeling experiments of Forsythia intermedia plant tissue with [8-14C]- and [9,9-2H2,OC2H3]coniferyl alcohols revealed that the lignans, (-)-secoisolariciresinol and (-)-matairesinol, were derived from two coniferyl alcohol molecules; no evidence for the formation of the corresponding (+)-enantiomers was found. Administration of (+-)-[Ar-3H]secoisolariciresinols to excised shoots of F. intermedia resulted in a significant conversion into (-)-matairesinol; again, the (+)-antipode was not detected. Experiments using cell-free extracts of F. intermedia confirmed and extended these findings. In the presence of NAD(P)H and H2O2, the cell-free extracts catalyzed the formation of (-)-secoisolariciresinol, with either [8-14C]- or [9,9-2H2,OC2H3]coniferyl alcohols as substrates. The (+)-enantiomer was not formed. Finally, when either (-)-[Ar-3H] or (+-)-[Ar-2H]secoisolariciresinols were used as substrates, in the presence of NAD(P), only (-)- and not (+)-matairesinol formation occurred. The other antipode, (+)-secoisolariciresinol, did not serve as a substrate for the formation of either (+)- or (-)-matairesinol. Thus, in F. intermedia, the formation of the lignan, (-)-secoisolariciresinol, occurs under strict stereochemical control, in a reaction or reactions requiring NAD(P)H and H2O2 as cofactors. This stereoselectivity is retained in the subsequent conversion into (-)-matairesinol, since (+)-secoisolariciresinol is not a substrate. These are the first two enzymes to be discovered in lignan formation.

Butylene Glycols↗