Molecular Biology Commons^™

Development Of High Value Oil Traits Using The Model Oilseed Crop Camelina Sativa, Evan Updike

Department of Biochemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Plant oils are an important source of food, fuel, and feed in our society today. The oil found in the seeds of plants is composed almost entirely of triacylglycerol (TAG) molecules, which consist of three fatty acids esterified to a glycerol backbone. As crude oil supplies decline, vegetable oils are gaining traction as a renewable substitute to petroleum-based materials in fuels, lubricants, and specialty oleochemicals. However, as it currently stands vegetable oils do not possess the properties necessary to fill the void of a petroleum free world.

To address this problem, plant biotechnologists have done extensive work on genetic engineering …

Transcriptomic Analyses And Computational Modeling Reveal That Fatty Acid Transport Protein 2 (Fatp2) Impacts The Transcriptional Activity Of Pparα Thus Altering The Lipid Metabolic Landscape, Vincent M. Perez

Department of Biochemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Fatty acid transport protein 2 (FATP2) is highly expressed in liver, small intestine, and kidney where it functions in both the uptake of exogenous long chain fatty acids (LCFAs) and in the activation of very long chain fatty acids (VLCFAs). Here we address the phenotypic impacts of deleting FATP2 with the following three separate approaches: [1] Utilizing an unbiased next-generation sequencing analysis of FATP2-null (fatp2-/-) mice fed a standard chow diet; [2] Utilizing an unbiased next-generation sequencing analysis of fatp2-null (fatp2-/-) mice fed a high-fat ketogenic diet (KD) and fasted for 24-hours [3] Building dynamic computer models built with data …

Defining The Roles Of Serine Palmitoyltransferase-Interacting Proteins In The Regulation Of Sphingolipid Homeostasis, Athen N. Kimberlin

Department of Biochemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Sphingolipids are major structural components of the plasma membrane and endomembrane system. Research suggests that sphingolipids are involved with the formation of lipid microdomains, also known as lipid rafts, which may help to organize proteins within the membrane and may be important for membrane trafficking. Aside from their structural roles in membranes, sphingolipids and their metabolic products have been implicated in several cellular signaling responses like programmed cell death (PCD). Because of this, maintenance of sphingolipid homeostasis is critical for eukaryotic cell growth and development. Serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) catalyzes the first step in sphingolipid biosynthesis and is the primary regulatory …

Transcriptomic Analyses Of The Co2-Concentrating Mechanisms And Development Of Molecular Tools For Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii, Andrew J. Brueggeman

Department of Biochemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Microalgae, such as Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, account for a large percentage of photosynthesis that occurs on the planet. Many algae possess a Carbon-Concentrating Mechanism, or CCM, that actively transports inorganic carbon (C_i) into the cell to create artificially high internal levels of CO₂, enhancing their rate of carbon fixation. The production of biofuels from algal sources can serve as both a renewable and carbon-neutral energy source. This thesis details research in Chlamydomonas, in the effort to both better understand the CCM in algae and improve laboratory and industrial manipulations with algae.

In the first chapter of this …

Investigations Of Substrate Channeling In The Proline Oxidative Pathway, Nikhilesh Sanyal

Department of Biochemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In cell metabolism, substrate channeling is a phenomenon where the product of one reaction is transported to a second enzyme active site without equilibrating into bulk solvent. Chapter 1 reviews the rationale and evidence for substrate channeling with the specific example of proline metabolism. Oxidation of proline to glutamate is catalyzed in consecutive reactions by proline dehydrogenase (PRODH) and pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase (P5CDH). The intermediate Δ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate reportedly tends to be labile and inhibitory towards several metabolic pathways.

One of the main objectives of this dissertation was to investigate substrate channeling between independent proline oxidative enzymes from Thermus thermophilus- …

Studies On The Small Ubiquitin-Like Modifier (Sumo) E2 Conjugases Of The Sumoylation System In Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii And Their Role In Stress Physiology, Amy R. Knobbe

Department of Biochemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The eukaryotic protein post-translational modification by SUMOylation is involved in a diverse array of cellular processes, including various stress responses. A fully functional SUMOylation system is present in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and SUMOylation of multiple high molecular weight proteins is induced in response to abiotic stress in this organism. We report here the characterization of a SUMO E2 conjugase deletion mutant in C. reinhardtii, mut5. SUMO E2 conjugase enzymes are responsible for the conjugation of the protein SUMO to a lysine residue within a target protein. C. reinhardtii mutants in which the SUMO E2 …

Functional Studies Of Human Cellular Detoxification Enzymes, Melanie Neely Willis

Department of Biochemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Cellular detoxification allows for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis and prevention of abnormal cell growth by clearing harmful xenobiotics and endobiotics. After oxygenation by phase I enzymes, phase II enzymes such as glucuronosyltransferases and glutathione-s-transferases conjugate a small molecule to the compound, marking it for subsequent export. Many up-stream enzymes are also essential to cellular detoxification by supplying the small compounds for conjugation. These up-stream enzymes include UDP-glucose dehydrogenase, which synthesizes UDP-glucuronate, and glutamate cysteine ligase, which catalyzes the first and rate-limiting step in the synthesis of glutathione.
UDP-glucose dehydrogenase (UGDH) is an important enzyme in human development and in …