Biomedical subjects

P Cerdan

Publications and source records attributed to P Cerdan.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

Beetle pollination of Philodendron solimoesense (Araceae) in French Guiana.

The pollination of Philodendron solimoesense (subgenus Meconostigma) was studied in four populations of French Guiana. Flowering is asynchronous within each population during July, and the flowering cycle is a 2-d process. Numerous insects visit Philodendron inflorescences, but the main pollinator seems to be Cyclocephala colasi (Scarabaeidae, Dynastinae). The pollination process displays aspects typical of beetle pollination: the production of heat and of a strong odor, the presence of a food reward (stigmatic secretion and sterile male flowers), and the presence of a copulation chamber. Flower heat production is important (ca. 11 degrees C above the ambient air) and may help to volatilize the fragrance. Attraction and choice-test experiments showed that C. colasi is not likely to depend on chemical information (such as pheromone) to localize conspecifics but may rely instead on stimuli produced by the inflorescences in order to meet mating partners.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1995

Substrate specificity differences between two catechol 2,3-dioxygenases encoded by the TOL and NAH plasmids from Pseudomonas putida.

The substrate specificities of two catechol 2,3-dioxygenases, one encoded by xylE on the TOL plasmid pWW0 and the other encoded by nahH on the NAH7 plasmid, were investigated. The XylE catechol 2,3-dioxygenase catalyzes the ring-cleavage of catechol, 3-methylcatechol and 4-methylcatechol. The NahH catechol 2,3-dioxygenase was partially deficient in oxidizing 3-methylcatechol due to defects in two catalytic properties. First, NahH has a lower kcat value for 3-methylcatechol compared to XylE, and secondly, NahH is more susceptible than XylE to suicide inhibition by 3-methylcatechol. To identify the amino acid residues of XylE and NahH responsible for the differences in the efficacy of the 3-methylcatechol oxidation, kcat and kinact (the rate constant for suicide inhibition) for 3-methylcatechol were determined for several NahH-XylE hybrid proteins, each of which consisted of the NahH sequence in the N-terminal region and the XylE sequence in the C-terminal region. It is shown that a single amino acid substitution present in the NahH sequence, His250-->Gln, was responsible for the reduced kcat and increased kinact values for 3-methylcatechol. In addition to the substitution at residue 250, some substitution(s) at residues 77-102 were responsible for the twofold difference in the kinact values for NahH and XylE with 3-methylcatechol. We also show that the binding site of 3-methylcatechol for suicide inhibition is different from the catalytic site.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1994

Substrate specificity of catechol 2,3-dioxygenase encoded by TOL plasmid pWW0 of Pseudomonas putida and its relationship to cell growth.

Catechol 2,3-dioxygenase encoded by TOL plasmid pWW0 of Pseudomonas putida consists of four identical subunits, each containing one ferrous ion. The enzyme catalyzes ring cleavage of catechol, 3-methylcatechol, and 4-methylcatechol but shows only weak activity toward 4-ethylcatechol. Two mutants of catechol 2,3-dioxygenases (4ECR1 and 4ECR6) able to oxidize 4-ethylcatechol, one mutant (3MCS) which exhibits only weak activity toward 3-methylcatechol but retained the ability to cleave catechol and 4-methylcatechol, and one phenotypic revertant of 3MCS (3MCR) which had regained the ability to oxidize 3-methylcatechol were characterized by determining their Km and partition ratio (the ratio of productive catalysis to suicide catalysis). The amino acid substitutions in the four mutant enzymes were also identified by sequencing their structural genes. Wild-type catechol 2,3-dioxygenase was inactivated during the catalysis of 4-ethylcatechol and thus had a low partition ratio for this substrate, whereas the two mutant enzymes, 4ECR1 and 4ECR6, had higher partition ratios for it. Similarly, mutant enzyme 3MCS had a lower partition ratio for 3-methylcatechol than that of 3MCR. Molecular oxygen was required for the inactivation of the wild-type enzyme by 4-ethylcatechol and of 3MCS by 3-methylcatechol, and the inactivated enzymes could be reactivated by incubation with FeSO4 plus ascorbic acid. The enzyme inactivation is thus most likely mechanism based and occurred principally by oxidation and/or removal of the ferrous ion in the catalytic center. In general, partition ratios for catechols lower than 18,000 did not support bacterial growth. A possible meaning of the critical value of the partition ratio is discussed.

Ascorbic Acid↗