Investigation of the interplay among enzymes and transporters involved in sulfur metabolism in plants

植物能够从土壤溶液中吸收硫酸盐，并将其转化为含硫氨基酸、硫醇和含硫次级代谢物。在这个项目中，我们确定了参与硫代谢的转运体和酶之间的物理相互作用。在镉胁迫条件下，共过表达氨基酸半胱氨酸合成必需的两种相互作用酶的转基因植株显示出硫醇类化合物的增加，并表现出对镉的耐受性。我们还鉴定了含硫次级代谢物生物合成所需的酶。

Plants are able to take up sulfate from the soil solution and convert it into sulfur-containing amino acids, thiols, and sulfur-containing secondary metabolites. In this project, we determined physical interactions among transporters and enzymes that are involved in sulfur metabolism. Transgenic plants co-overexpressing two interacting enzymes essential for the synthesis of amino acid cysteine showed enhanced production of thiol compounds under cadmium-stressed conditions, and exhibited tolerance to cadmium. We also identified enzymes required for the biosynthesis of sulfur-containing secondary metabolites.