Mechanism and Regulation of Ethylene Biosynthesis

该奖项为S博士提供了进一步的资助。F.杨，为了使 他继续研究乙烯的生物合成。 协助 由其他NSF支持的年轻合作者，杨 证明乙烯是由蛋氨酸通过S- 腺苷甲硫氨酸和1-氨基环丙烷-1-羧酸。 该项目的主要目标现在将由 杨博士是（一）完全净化和表征1- 氨基环丙烷-1-羧酸合酶，并确定 围绕该酶活性位点的氨基酸序列 从苹果和其它植物组织分离，（B）克隆 苹果中这种酶的基因，（c）表征 S-腺苷甲硫氨酸对合酶的失活 酶的体内周转，和（d）表征酶 参与所谓的蛋氨酸循环。 乙烯是一种植物激素， 植物生长和发育的许多方面。 这种激素 在农业上具有重要的商业意义， 收获作物生理学 在此开展的工作旨在 获得基础知识，以后可以作为基础， 操纵植物中乙烯的水平， 向下 这是一种很有前途的方法来优化某些 农业系统。 杨博士的研究将提供一个有用的 作物产生乙烯的理论基础 可以通过生物技术进行调控。

This award provides further funding for Dr. S. F. Yang, to enable him to continue his research on ethylene biosynthesis. Assisted by other NSF-supported younger collaborators, Yang has demonstrated that ethylene is synthesized from methionine via S- adenosylmethionine and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid. The principal objectives of the project now to be carried out by Dr. Yang are (a) to purify fully and characterize 1- aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid synthase and to determine the amino acid sequence around the active site of this enzyme isolated from apples and other plant tissues, (b) to clone the gene for this enzyme from apples, (c) to characterize the inactivation of the synthase by S-adenosylmethionine in relation to the enzyme's in vivo turnover, and (d) to characterize enzymes involved in the so-called methionine cycle. Ethylene is a plant hormone responsible for the control of numerous aspects of plant growth and development. This hormone is commercially important in agriculture and in relation to post- harvest crop physiology. The work to be pursued here is aimed at obtaining basic knowledge that can later be used as a basis for manipulating the levels of ethylene in plants, either upward or downward. This is a promising approach to optimizing certain agricultural systems. Dr. Yang's studies will provide a useful theoretical basis from which ethylene production by crop plants can be regulated via biotechnology.