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The speed of absorption of dietary amino acids by the gut varies according to the type of ingested dietary protein. This could affect postprandial protein synthesis, breakdown, and deposition. To test this hypothesis, two intrinsically 13C-leucine-labeled milk proteins, casein (CAS) and whey protein (WP), of different physicochemical properties were ingested as one single meal by healthy adults. Postprandial whole body leucine kinetics were assessed by using a dual tracer methodology. WP induced a dramatic but short increase of plasma amino acids. CAS induced a prolonged plateau of moderate hyperaminoacidemia, probably because of a slow gastric emptying. Whole body protein breakdown was inhibited by 34% after CAS ingestion but not after WP ingestion. Postprandial protein synthesis was stimulated by 68% with the WP meal and to a lesser extent (+31%) with the CAS meal. Postprandial whole body leucine oxidation over 7 h was lower with CAS (272 +/- 91 micromoles . kg-1) than with WP (373 +/- 56 micromoles . kg-1). Leucine intake was identical in both meals (380 micromoles . kg-1). Therefore, net leucine balance over the 7 h after the meal was more positive with CAS than with WP (P 0.05, WP vs. CAS). In conclusion, the speed of protein digestion and amino acid absorption from the gut has a major effect on whole body protein anabolism after one single meal. By analogy with carbohydrate metabolism, slow and fast proteins modulate the postprandial metabolic response, a concept to be applied to wasting situations

Expression of the acidic dehydrin gene wcor410 was found to be associated with the development of freezing tolerance in several Gramineae species. This gene is part of a family of three homologous members, wcor410, wcor410b, and wcor410c, that have been mapped to the long arms of the homologous group 6 chromosomes of hexaploid wheat. To gain insight into the function of this gene family, antibodies were raised against the WCOR410 protein and affinity purified to eliminate cross-reactivity with the WCS120 dehydrin-like protein of wheat. Protein gel blot analyses showed that the accumulation of WCOR410 proteins correlates well with the capacity of each cultivar to cold acclimate and develop freezing tolerance. Immunoelectron microscope analyses revealed that these proteins accumulate in the vicinity of the plasma membrane of cells in the sensitive vascular transition area where freeze-induced dehydration is likely to be more severe. Biochemical fractionation experiments indicated that WCOR410 is a peripheral protein and not an integral membrane protein. These results provide direct evidence that a subtype of the dehydrin family accumulates near the plasma membrane. The properties, abundance, and localization of these proteins suggest that they are involved in the cryoprotection of the plasma membrane against freezing or dehydration stress. We propose that WCOR410 plays a role in preventing the destabilization of the plasma membrane that occurs during dehydrative conditions

▪ Abstract  Calmodulin is a small Ca 2+ -binding protein that acts to transduce second messenger signals into a wide array of cellular responses. Plant calmodulins share many structural and functional features with their homologs from animals and yeast, but the expression of multiple protein isoforms appears to be a distinctive feature of higher plants. Calmodulin acts by binding to short peptide sequences within target proteins, thereby inducing structural changes, which alters their activities in response to changes in intracellular Ca 2+ concentration. The spectrum of plant calmodulin-binding proteins shares some overlap with that found in animals, but a growing number of calmodulin-regulated proteins in plants appear to be unique. Ca 2+ -binding and enzymatic activation properties of calmodulin are discussed emphasizing the functional linkages between these processes and the diverse pathways that are dependent on Ca 2+ signaling.

Lyme disease spirochetes, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, are maintained in zoonotic cycles involving ticks and small mammals. In unfed ticks, the spirochetes produce one outer surface protein, OspA, but not OspC. During infection in mammals, immunological data suggest that the spirochetes have changed their surface, now expressing OspC but little or no OspA. We find by in vitro growth experiments that this change is regulated in part by temperature; OspC is produced by spirochetes at 32-37 degrees C but not at 24 degrees C. Furthermore, spirochetes in the midgut of ticks that have fully engorged on mice now have OspC on their surface. Thus two environmental cues, an increase in temperature and tick feeding, trigger a major alteration of the spirochetal outer membrane. This rapid synthesis of OspC by spirochetes during tick feeding may play an essential role in the capacity of these bacteria to successfully infect mammalian hosts, including humans, when transmitted by ticks

Hypersensitive response and pathogenicity (hrp) genes control the ability of major groups of plant pathogenic bacteria to elicit the hypersensitive response (HR) in resistant plants and to cause disease in susceptible plants. A number of Hrp proteins share significant similarities with components of the type III secretion apparatus and flagellar assembly apparatus in animal pathogenic bacteria. Here we report that Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato strain DC3000 (race 0) produces a filamentous surface appendage (Hrp pilus) of 6-8 nm in diameter in a solid minimal medium that induces hrp genes. Formation of the Hrp pilus is dependent on at least two hrp genes, hrpS and hrpH (recently renamed hrcC), which are involved in gene regulation and protein secretion, respectively. Our finding of the Hrp pilus, together with recent reports of Salmonella typhimurium surface appendages that are involved in bacterial invasion into the animal cell and of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens virB-dependent pilus that is involved in the transfer of T-DNA into plant cells, suggests that surface appendage formation is a common feature of animal and plant pathogenic bacteria in the infection of eukaryotic cells. Furthermore, we have identified HrpA as a major structural protein of the Hrp pilus. Finally, we show that a nonpolar hrpA mutant of P. syringae pv. tomato DC3000 is unable to form the Hrp pilus or to cause either an HR or disease in plants

Changes in gene expression induced by toxic levels of Al were characterized to investigate the nature of Al stress. A cDNA library was constructed from Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings treated with Al for 2 h. We identified five cDNA clones that showed a transient induction of their mRNA levels, four cDNA clones that showed a longer induction period, and two down-regulated genes. Expression of the four long-term-induced genes remained at elevated levels for at least 48 h. The genes encoded peroxidase, glutathione-S-transferase, blue copper-binding protein, and a protein homologous to the reticuline:oxygen oxidoreductase enzyme. Three of these genes are known to be induced by oxidative stresses and the fourth is induced by pathogen treatment. Another oxidative stress gene, superoxide dismutase, and a gene for Bowman-Birk protease inhibitor were also induced by Al in A. thaliana. These results suggested that Al treatment of Arabidopsis induces oxidative stress. In confirmation of this hypothesis, three of four genes induced by Al stress in A. thaliana were also shown to be induced by ozone. Our results demonstrate that oxidative stress is an important component of the plant's reaction to toxic levels of Al

Jasmonic acid, synthesized from linolenic acid (the octadecanoid pathway), has been proposed to be part of a signal transduction pathway that mediates the induction of defensive genes in plants in response to oligouronide and polypeptide signals generated by insect and pathogen attacks. We report here that the induction of proteinase inhibitor accumulation in tomato leaves by plant-derived oligogalacturonides and fungal-derived chitosan oligosaccharides is severely reduced by two inhibitors (salicylic acid and diethyldi-thiocarbamic acid) of the octadecanoid pathway, supporting a role for the pathway in signaling by oligosaccharides. Jasmonic acid levels in leaves of tomato plants increased several fold within 2 hr after supplying the polypeptide systemin, oligogalacturonides, or chitosan to the plants through their cut stems, as expected if they utilize the octadecanoid pathway. The time course of jasmonic acid accumulation in tomato leaves in response to wounding was consistent with its proposed role in signaling proteinase inhibitor mRNA and protein synthesis. The cumulative evidence supports a model for the activation of defensive genes in plants in response to insect and pathogen attacks in which various elicitors generated at the attack sites activate the octadecanoid pathway via different recognition events to induce the expression of defensive genes in local and distal tissues of the plants.

Enzymes of the eukaryotic protein kinase superfamily catalyze the reversible transfer of the gamma-phosphate from ATP to amino acid side chains of proteins. Protein kinase function can be counteracted by the action of phosphoprotein phosphatases. Phosphorylation status of a protein can have profound effects on its activity and interaction with other proteins. An estimated 1 to 3% of functional eukaryotic genes encode protein kineses, suggesting that they are involved in many aspects of cellular regulation and metabolism. In plants, protein phosphorylation has been implicated in responses to many signals, including light, pathogen invasion, hormones, temperature stress, and nutrient deprivation. Activities of several plant metabolic and regulatory enzymes are also controlled by reversible phosphorylation. As might be expected from this diversity of function, there is a large array of different protein kinases. Purification of protein kinases and their subsequent cloning, facilitated by the PCR and advances in homology-based cloning techniques, as well as functional analyses, including complementation of conditional yeast mutants and positional cloning of mutant plant genes, has already led to identification of more than 70 plant protein kinase genes. However, the precise functional roles of specific protein kinases and phosphatases during plant growth and development have been elucidated for only a few