Exploring the evolutionary route of the acquisition of betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase activity by plant ALDH10 enzymes: implications for the synthesis of the osmoprotectant glycine betaine.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Plant ALDH10 enzymes are aminoaldehyde dehydrogenases (AMADHs) that oxidize different ω-amino or trimethylammonium aldehydes, but only some of them have betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BADH) activity and produce the osmoprotectant glycine betaine (GB). The latter enzymes possess alanine or cysteine at position 441 (numbering of the spinach enzyme, SoBADH), while those ALDH10s that cannot oxidize betaine aldehyde (BAL) have isoleucine at this position. Only the plants that contain A441- or C441-type ALDH10 isoenzymes accumulate GB in response to osmotic stress. In this work we explored the evolutionary history of the acquisition of BAL specificity by plant ALDH10s.

Results

We performed extensive phylogenetic analyses and constructed and characterized, kinetically a

SUBMITTER: Munoz-Clares RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4046141 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature