Regulation of the shikimate pathways in Arabidopsis

本项目主要研究植物莽草酸代谢途径。 莽草酸途径对于芳香族氨基酸、某些维生素、类黄酮、甘草酸和苯丙素类的生物合成是重要的。 在植物中，超过30%的固定碳流经莽草酸途径用于这些芳香族化合物的生物合成。 这些化合物对于植物防御和环境响应、维持植物结构完整性及其生长和发育是重要的。 此外，芳香族氨基酸在我们的饮食中是必不可少的，黄酮类化合物和黄酮类化合物具有已知的植物特性;例如，一些黄酮类化合物用作植物雌激素。 这些化合物中的一些还具有化学治疗性质。 莽草酸途径也存在于真菌、微生物和顶复门寄生虫中，但不存在于人类中，因此正在积极研究用于开发新药和除草剂。 本论文对拟南芥中的脱氢奎尼酸脱氢酶、莽草酸脱氢酶和莽草酸激酶的生化特性和结构进行了研究。

This project focuses on the plant shikimate metabolic pathway.  The shikimate pathway is important for the biosynthesis of the aromatic amino acids, some vitamins, flavonoids, isoflavonoids and phenylpropanoids.  In plants, more than 30 % of fixed carbon flows through the shikimate pathway for the biosynthesis of these aromatic compounds.  These compounds are important for plant defence and environmental responses, in maintaining plant structural integrity and in their growth and development.   Furthermore, the aromatic amino acids are essential in our diet and flavonoids and isoflavonoids have known phyto properties; for example some isoflavonoids serves as phyto-estrogen.  Some of these compounds also have chemo-therapeutic properties.  The shikimate pathway is also found in fungi, microbes and apicomplexan parasites, but not in humans, as such it is actively being studied for the development of novel drugs and herbicides.  This proposal deals with the biochemical characterization and structure determination of the enzymes dehydroquinate dehydratease, shikimate dehydrogenase and shikimate kinase in Arabidopsis thaliana.