An unexpected plethora of trehalose biosynthesis genes in Arabidopsis thaliana - PubMed (original) (raw)

An unexpected plethora of trehalose biosynthesis genes in Arabidopsis thaliana

B Leyman et al. Trends Plant Sci. 2001 Nov.

Abstract

Trehalose accumulation has been documented in many organisms, such as bacteria and fungi, where it serves a storage and stress-protection role. Although conspicuously absent in most plants, trehalose biosynthesis genes were discovered recently in higher plants. We have uncovered a family of 11 TPS genes in Arabidopsis thaliana, one of which encodes a trehalose-6-phosphate (Tre6P) synthase, and a subfamily of which might encode the still elusive Tre6P phosphatases. A regulatory role in carbon metabolism is likely but might not be restricted to the TPS control of hexokinase activity as documented for yeast. Incompatibility between high trehalose levels and chaperone-assisted protein folding might be a reason why plants have evolved to accumulate some alternative stress-protection compounds to trehalose.

PubMed Disclaimer

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources

• Full Text Sources

  • Elsevier Science

• Other Literature Sources

  • The Lens - Patent Citations

• Molecular Biology Databases

  • BioCyc
  • Gene Ontology
  • The Arabidopsis Information Resource