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Two Cys Or Not Two Cys? That Is The Question; Alternative Oxidase In The Thermogenic Plant Sacred Lotus, Nicole M. Grant, Yoshihiko Onda, Yusuke Kakizaki, Kkikukatsu Ito, Jennifer R. Watling, Sharon A. Robinson

Sharon Robinson

Sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) regulates temperature in its floral chamber to 32°C to 35°C across ambient temperatures of 8°C to 40°C with heating achieved through high alternative pathway fluxes. In most alternative oxidase (AOX) isoforms, two cysteine residues, Cys1 and Cys2, are highly conserved and play a role in posttranslational regulation of AOX. Further control occurs via interaction of reduced Cys1 with α-keto acids, such as pyruvate. Here, we report on the in vitro regulation of AOX isolated from thermogenic receptacle tissues of sacred lotus. AOX protein was mostly present in the reduced form, and only a small fraction could …