THE ROLE OF BORON IN PLANT METABOLISM

AbstractAfter its discovery, selenium was most noted for its harmful effects. Selenium was the first element identified to occur in native vegetation at levels toxic to animals. Poisoning of animals can occur through consumption of plants containing toxic levels of selenium. Livestock consuming excessive amounts of selenized forages are afflicted with “alkali disease” and “blind staggers”. Typical symptoms of these diseases include loss of hair, deformed hooves, blindness, colic, diarrhoea, lethargy, increased heart and respiration rates, and eventually death. On the other hand, selenium deficiency in animal feeds can cause “white muscle disease”, a degenerative disease of the cardiac and skeletal muscles. In this regard, this review paper attempts to summarize the essentiality of selenium for humans, animals, and plants and the role of selenium in plant metabolism and physiology.

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A Failure Mode and Effect Analysis of plant metabolism reveals why cytosolic fumarase is required for temperature acclimation in Arabidopsis

10.1101/2020.08.04.234591 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Helena A. Herrmann ◽

Pablo I. Calzadilla ◽

Jean-Marc Schwartz ◽

Giles N. Johnson

Keyword(s):

Failure Mode ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Temperature Acclimation ◽

System Stability ◽

Plant Metabolism ◽

Metabolic System ◽

Effect Analysis ◽

Rigorous Approach ◽

Biochemical Analyses

SummaryPlants acclimate their photosynthetic capacity in response to changing environmental conditions. In Arabidopsis thaliana, photosynthetic acclimation to cold requires the accumulation of the organic acid fumarate, catalysed by a cytosolic fumarase FUM2, however the role of this is currently unclear.In this study, we use an integrated experimental and modelling approach to examine the role of FUM2 and fumarate across the physiological temperature range. Using physiological and biochemical analyses, we demonstrate that FUM2 is necessary for high as well as low temperature acclimation.To understand the role of FUM2 activity, we have adapted a reliability engineering technique, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), to formalize a rigorous approach for ranking metabolites according to the potential risk that they pose to the metabolic system. FMEA identifies fumarate as a low-risk metabolite. Its precursor, malate, is shown to be high-risk and liable to cause system instability. We conclude that the role of cytosolic fumarase, FUM2, is to provide a fail-safe, maintaining system stability under changing environmental conditions.We argue that FMEA is a technique which is not only useful in understanding plant metabolism, it can also be used to study reliability in other systems and aid the design of synthetic pathways.

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Role of Protein Kinases, Phosphatases and 14-3-3 Proteins in the Control of Primary Plant Metabolism

Annual Plant Reviews online ◽

10.1002/9781119312994.apr0220 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 121-149

Author(s):

Greg B. G. Moorhead ◽

George W. Templeton ◽

Hue T. Tran

Keyword(s):

Protein Kinases ◽

Plant Metabolism

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Trehalose 6-phosphate: a signal of sucrose status

Biochemical Journal ◽

10.1042/bj20080598 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 412 (1) ◽

pp. e1-e2 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Matthew J. Paul

Keyword(s):

Transgenic Plants ◽

Plant Metabolism ◽

Vital Function ◽

Tissue Specific ◽

Biochemical Journal ◽

Specific Manner ◽

Plant Genes ◽

Important Regulator ◽

Precise Role

T6P (trehalose 6-phosphate), the precursor of trehalose, has come out of obscurity over 10 years to be appreciated as an important regulator of plant metabolism and development, quite possibly linking the two. This information has been gained from analysis of mutant and transgenic plants, which show strong, diverse and strategically important phenotypes. Plant genes that encode the trehalose pathway are numerous and highly regulated transcriptionally and post-translationally, responding sensitively to the environment in a developmentally programmed and tissue-specific manner further suggestive of a vital function. Yet the precise role of T6P has not been clear. In an article published in the Biochemical Journal in 2006, John Lunn and colleagues addressed a major obstacle to understanding the function of T6P through development of a method capable of resolving femtomolar quantities of T6P from very small amounts of tissue. Using this technology, the authors showed large changes in T6P content that reflect tissue sucrose status. Overall, this elegant work makes an important contribution towards our understanding of the function of T6P in plants.

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Role of S-methylmethionine in the plant metabolism

Acta Agronomica Hungarica ◽

10.1556/aagr.55.2007.4.9 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 55 (4) ◽

pp. 491-508 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

D. Szegő ◽

E. Kósa ◽

E. Horváth

Keyword(s):

Biologically Active ◽

Stress Factors ◽

Amino Acid Derivative ◽

Plant Metabolism ◽

Development Of Resistance ◽

Naturally Occurring ◽

Adenosyl Methionine ◽

Phases Of Development ◽

And Storage

S-methylmethionine (SMM), a naturally occurring, biologically active compound, is a free amino acid derivative, which is increasingly recognised as playing an important part in the plant metabolism. SMM, which is synthesised from methionine, is involved in crucial processes in the S metabolism, such as the regulation of methionine and S-adenosyl methionine levels, the methylation processes taking place in cells, and the transport and storage of sulphur in certain phases of development. It is of great importance in the development of resistance to abiotic and biotic stress factors, as it is a direct precursor in the biosynthesis of the osmoprotectants and other S-containing compounds involved in defence mechanisms, while also influencing the biosynthesis of major plant hormones such as polyamines and ethylene. The present paper discusses our increasing understanding of the role played by SMM in the plant metabolism and its possible role in the improvement of traits that enable plants to overcome stress.

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