Control of Respiratory Electron Flow: A Molecular Genetic Basis for the Alternative Oxidase

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This research utilizes a genetic approach for the alternative oxidase to elucidate the regulation of the mitochondrial contribution to overall energy and carbon balance. Initially, the focus centers on the gene(s) identified as encoding at least part of the alternative oxidase. There is a vast amount of physiological data concerning the alternative oxidase and so little molecular/genetic data that the primary sequence of this oxidase should yield answers that cannot be predicted at this time. The second portion of this project utilizes alternative oxidase genes from three model systems in order to understand the regulation of respiratory electron flow between the cytochrome and alternative pathways.%%% Plants, fungi, cyanobacteria and many other organisms possess both a normal cytochrome pathway of respiration and another, "alternative", pathway. The significance of this pathway in relation to total energy and carbon balance in these organisms is evident, yet, our biochemical and genetic knowledge concerning its identity is extremely limited. This research will provide a structural basis for the "alternative oxidase" of the alternative pathway. It will also elucidate a possible mechanism for the developmental and environmentally induced alternative oxidase capacity in plant tissues. A model for the regulation of electron flow between the cytochrome and alternative pathways of respiration will also be developed, providing a framework for future hypotheses concerning the regulation of respiratory electron flow as well as a genetic basis through gene manipulation and transformation, to test such hypotheses.***//