Information, biosynthetic

Given the information in the previous two sections, it is now possible to summarize what we know of the biosynthetic processes that lead to the formation of active MoFe protein. 

Use of biochemical and biological information for bioprocesses is also significant to the advancement of BRE. Here, the information on the signal transduction from external Ca was utilized for regulation of ginsenoside biosynthetic pathway of cultured cells of P. notoginseng. A quantitative study on the effects of external calcium and calcium sensors was conducted to... 

While caffeine biosynthesis in coffee and tea has been reasonably well investigated, little information is available about the biosynthetic pathways of methylxanthines in cacao. Published studies34 35 have established the presence of 7-methylxanthine and adenine in cocoa. Since both coffee and tea exhibit similar pathways where theobromine is a direct precursor for caffeine, it is reasonable to assume that a similar mechanism is possible in cacao. 

Table 8.2 According to the co-evolution theory proposed by Wong, the biosynthetic routes to amino acids from their precursors could perhaps provide information on the evolution of the genetic code (Wong, 1975)...

The variation of the chemical structures in both Type I and Type II compounds results from differences in both biosynthetic enzyme systems and their starting material. This topic, however, has been judiciously described in the chapter by R. Jurenka. While the grouping employed in this chapter is based on biosynthetic origin, some chemicals were involuntarily classified considering their functional groups more sizably than the origin. Incidentally, taxonomic information is important for insect pheromone research. In this chapter, the family name (with the common suffix -idae) is associated with the species name. For those species whose family name is not listed in Figs. 1 and 2, the superfamily name (with the common suffix -oidea) is associated. The subfamily name (with the common suffix -inae) is also described for the species in Tor-tricidae, Pyralidae, and Noctuidae. 

The structure elucidation of the kinamycins was a formidable challenge, and the information presented below draws from the work of several research groups over a period of more than 20 years. As will be shown, the originally proposed structure of the kinamycins contained a cyanamide rather than a diazo function. Subsequent synthetic and biosynthetic studies led to replacement of the cyanamide with a diazo function. The structural elucidation was challenging, in part, because of the high degree of unsaturation of the kinamycins, which limits the utility of H and 2D NMR analysis. In addition, because these structures were unprecedented, there were no clear benchmarks for comparison at the time. The pathway from isolation to determination of the correct structure is described below. 

While little biosynthetic information is available, it has been suggested [38] that 25 and 26 may be formed from AA (24) and EPA (14) via a cyclization mechanism (Scheme 3) similar to that which forms trans-cyclopropyl-containing diol 28 upon treatment of linoleic acid with performic acid [40]. An alternative biogenetic mechanism (Scheme 4), based upon that proposed for the structurally related red algal metabolites constanolactone A and B [41], would involve the formation and opening of an allylic epoxide intermediate created as a result of a 15-/ -LPO acting on either AA or EPA. Related compounds have been isolated from the coral Plexaura homomalla and the mollusc Aplysia kurodai (see below). 

The above observations suggested that hexoses arise in Nature by reaction of glycerose with dihydroxyacetone. A vast amount of practical information has been derived from investigation of plant- and muscle-extracts, two dissimilar systems that show many similarities in their biosynthetic manipulations. There is a close parallelism in the sequence of intermediates involved in the processes wherein D-glucose is converted to ethanol and carbon dioxide by yeasts, and to lactic acid by muscle during contraction. The importance of these schemes lies in their reversibility, which provides a means of biosynthesis from small molecules. 

Cyclic peptides, self-assembly of, 24 59-60 Cyclic peroxides, 18 436, 447-448, 459 Cyclic poly(aliphatic disulfide)s, 23 712 Cyclic poly(disulfide)s, available information related to, 23 713 Cyclic polyethers, 12 658 chelating agents, 5 710 Cyclic reforming operations, 25 166 Cyclic sesquiterpenoids, biosynthetic routes to, 24 472 Cyclic siloxanes... 

Table 6.2 Common biosynthetic pathways, their occurrence in cyanobacteria and algae, methods used to detect the pathways, enzymes verified as present, and indication of the presence of genetic information for the enzyme...

An investigation of the stereochemistry of the urinary substances eliciting intermale aggression in the house mouse established that (l ,7.R)-3,4-dehydro-exo-brevicomin is present in the urine. Due to extremely facile racemization under very mild conditions, it was concluded that 2-sec-butyl-4,5-dihydrothi-azole 2 it is present in the urine as the racemate. It was suggested that the acidity of mouse urine probably promotes racemization of the optically active compound derived biosynthetically from an amino acid [36]. The observation that female house mice prefer the urinary odors of males uninfected by the intestinal nematode Heligmosomoidespolygyrus suggests that urine may also be important in conveying information on the infection status of males [37]. 

Sofia HJ, Chen G, Hetzler BG, et al. 2001. Radical SAM, a novel protein superfanuly linking unresolved steps in familiar biosynthetic pathways with radical mechanisms functional characterization using new analysis and information visualization methods. Nucleic Acids Res 29 1097-106. 

---