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From the fruits of Bulbine abyssinica three new dimeric anthracene derivatives, (P)-8,9,1',8'- tetrahydroxy-3,3'-dimethyl[10,7'-bianthracene]-1,4,9',10'- tetraone (trivial name abyquinone A), (10R)-1,4,8,1',8-pentahydroxy-3,3'-dimethyl-[10,7'-bianthracene]9,9',10' (10H)-trione (trivial name abyquinone B), and (10R)-3,4'-dihydro-1,4,8,3',8',9'-hexahydroxy-3,3'- dimethyl-[10,7'-biant hracene]9,1'(10H,2'H)-dione (trivial name abyquinone Q were isolated. Despite their structural differences, these three compounds are connected to each other by the apparently biomimetic conversion of abyquinone C (a preanthraquinonylanthrone with two stereogenic centers) into B (an anthraquinonylanthrone with one stereogenic center) and finally into A (an axially chiral bianthraquinone) under mild conditions, involving a highly efficient center-to-axis chirality transfer. In addition, the known anthraquinones islandicin and chrysophanol were identified. The structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopical evidences, chemical transformations, and quantum chemical CD calculations. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Ammonium is a primary source of N for plants, so knowing how it is transported, stored, and assimilated in plant cells is important for rational approaches to optimise N-use in agriculture. Electrophysiological studies of Arabidopsis AtAMT1;1 expressed in oocytes revealed passive, Delta psi-driven transport of NH4+ through this protein. Expression of AtAMT1;1 in a novel yeast mutant defective in endogenous ammonium transport and vacuolar acidification supported the above mechanism for AtAMT1;1 and revealed a central role for acid vacuoles in storage and retention of ammonia in cells. These results highlight the mechanistic differences between plant AMT proteins and related transporters in bacteria and animal cells, and suggest novel strategies to enhance nitrogen use efficiency in agriculture. (c) 2006 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
The selaginella genome identifies genetic changes associated with the evolution of vascular plants
(2011)
Vascular plants appeared similar to 410 million years ago, then diverged into several lineages of which only two survive: the euphyllophytes (ferns and seed plants) and the lycophytes. We report here the genome sequence of the lycophyte Selaginella moellendorffii (Selaginella), the first nonseed vascular plant genome reported. By comparing gene content in evolutionarily diverse taxa, we found that the transition from a gametophyte- to a sporophyte-dominated life cycle required far fewer new genes than the transition from a nonseed vascular to a flowering plant, whereas secondary metabolic genes expanded extensively and in parallel in the lycophyte and angiosperm lineages. Selaginella differs in posttranscriptional gene regulation, including small RNA regulation of repetitive elements, an absence of the trans-acting small interfering RNA pathway, and extensive RNA editing of organellar genes.