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Transport engineering in bioengineering is aimed at efficient export of the final product to reduce toxicity and feedback inhibition and to increase yield. The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters with their highly diverse substrate specificity and role in cellular efflux are potentially suitable in transport engineering approaches, although their size and high number of introns make them notoriously difficult to clone. Here, we report a novel in planta "exon engineering" strategy for cloning of full-length coding sequence of ABC transporters followed by methods for biochemical characterization of ABC exporters in Xenopus oocytes. Although the Xenopus oocyte expression system is particularly suitable for expression of membrane proteins and powerful in screening for novel transporter activity, only few examples of successful expression of ABC transporter has been reported. This raises the question whether the oocytes system is suitable to express and characterize ABC transporters. Thus we have selected AtABCG25, previously characterized in insect cells as the exporter of commercially valuable abscisic acid-as case study for optimizing of characterization in Xenopus oocytes. The tools provided will hopefully contribute to more successful transport engineering in synthetic biology.

Glucosinolates are amino acid derived secondary metabolites of the Capparales order, which include the Brassica crops and the model plant Arabidopsis. Tissue disruption brings glucosinolates into contact with myrosinases, thereby producing numerous biologically active compounds (e.g. isothiocyanates, nitriles, and thiocyanates). Following the completion of the Arabidopsis genome, significant progress has been made towards understanding the biosynthetic pathway of glucosinolates as genes involved in amino acid chain-elongation, glucosinolate core structure biosynthesis and side chain modification have been identified and characterized. These results have given new insight into glucosinolate metabolism within the metabolic network of the plant. Furthermore, they have provided important tools for metabolic engineering of glucosinolate profiles to improve nutritional value and pest resistance of crop plants.

A cDNA encoding CYP79B1 has been isolated from Sinapis alba. CYP79B1 from S. alba shows 54% sequence identity and 73% similarity to sorghum CYP79A1 and 95% sequence identity to the Arabidopsis T42902, assigned CYP79B2. The high identity and similarity to sorghum CYP79A1, which catalyses the conversion of tyrosine to p-hydroxyphenylacetaldoxime in the biosynthesis of the cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin, suggests that CYP79B1 similarly catalyses the conversion of amino acid(s) to aldoxime(s) in the biosynthesis of glucosinolates. Within the highly conserved 'PERF' and the heme-binding region of A-type cytochromes, the CYP79 family has unique substitutions that define the family-specific consensus sequences of FXP(E/D)RH and SFSTG(K/R)RGC(A/I)A, respectively. Sequence analysis of PCR products generated with CYP79B subfamily-specific primers identified CYP79B homologues in Tropaeolum majus, Carica papaya, Arabidopsis, Brassica napus and S. alba. The five glucosinolate-producing plants identified a CYP79B amino acid consensus sequence KPERHLNECSEVTLTENDLRFISFSTGKRGC. The unique substitutions in the 'PERF' and the heme-binding domain and the high sequence identity and similarity of CYP79B1, CYP79B2 and CYP79A1, together with the isolation of CYP79B homologues in the distantly related Tropaeolaceae, Caricaceae and Brassicaceae within the Capparales order, show that the initial part of the biosynthetic pathway of glucosinolates and cyanogenic glucosides is catalysed by evolutionarily conserved cytochromes P450. This confirms that the appearance of glucosinolates in Capparales is based on a cyanogen 'predisposition'. Identification of CYP79 homologues in glucosinolate-producing plants provides an important tool for tissue-specific regulation of the level of glucosinolates to improve nutritional value and pest resistance.

A cDNA encoding the multifunctional cytochrome P450, CYP71E1, involved in the biosynthesis of the cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin from Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench was isolated. A PCR approach based on three consensus sequences of A-type cytochromes P450- (V/I)KEX(L/F)R, FXPERF, and PFGXGRRXCXG-was applied. Three novel cytochromes P450 (CYP71E1, CYP98, and CYP99) in addition to a PCR fragment encoding sorghum cinnamic acid 4-hydroxylase were obtained. Reconstitution experiments with recombinant CYP71E1 heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli and sorghum NADPH-cytochrome P450-reductase in L-alpha-dilaurylphosphatidyl choline micelles identified CYP71E1 as the cytochrome P450 that catalyses the conversion of p-hydroxyphenylacetaldoxime to p-hydroxymandelonitrile in dhurrin biosynthesis. In accordance to the proposed pathway for dhurrin biosynthesis CYP71E1 catalyses the dehydration of the oxime to the corresponding nitrile, followed by a C-hydroxylation of the nitrile to produce p-hydroxymandelonitrile. In vivo administration of oxime to E. coli cells results in the accumulation of the nitrile, which indicates that the flavodoxin/flavodoxin reductase system in E. coli is only able to support CYP71E1 in the dehydration reaction, and not in the subsequent C-hydroxylation reaction. CYP79 catalyses the conversion of tyrosine to p-hydroxyphenylacetaldoxime, the first committed step in the biosynthesis of the cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin. Reconstitution of both CYP79 and CYP71E1 in combination with sorghum NADPH-cytochrome P450-reductase resulted in the conversion of tyrosine to p-hydroxymandelonitrile, i.e. the membranous part of the biosynthetic pathway of the cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin. Isolation of the cDNA for CYP71E1 together with the previously isolated cDNA for CYP79 provide important tools necessary for tissue-specific regulation of cyanogenic glucoside levels in plants to optimize food safety and pest resistance.

N-Hydroxytyrosine, (E)- and (Z)-p-hydroxyphenyl-acetaldehyde oxime, p-hydroxyphenylacetonitrile, and p-hydroxymandelonitrile are established intermediates in the biosynthesis of the tyrosine-derived cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin (Halkier, B. A., Olsen, C. E., and Møller, B. L. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 19487-19494. Simultaneous measurements of oxygen consumption and biosynthetic activity using a microsomal enzyme system isolated from etiolated sorghum seedlings demonstrate a requirement for three oxygen molecules in the conversion of tyrosine to p-hydroxymandelonitrile. Two oxygen molecules are consumed in the conversion of tyrosine to (E)-p-hydroxyphenylacetaldehyde oxime, indicating the existence of a previously undetected hydroxylation step in addition to that resulting in the formation of N-hydroxytyrosine. Radioactively labeled 1-nitro-2-(p-hydroxyphenyl)ethane was chemically synthesized and tested as a possible intermediate. Biosynthetic experiments demonstrate that the microsomal enzyme system metabolizes the nitro compound to the subsequent intermediates in dhurrin synthesis (Km = 0.05 mM; Vmax = 14 nmol/mg of protein/h). Low amounts of 1-nitro-2-(p-hydroxyphenyl)ethane are produced in the microsomal reaction mixtures when tyrosine is used as substrate. These data support the involvement of 1-nitro-2-(p-hydroxyphenyl)ethane or more likely its aci-nitro tautomer as an intermediate between N-hydroxytyrosine and p-hydroxyphenylacetaldehyde oxime. The conversion of (E)-p-hydroxyphenylacetaldehydeoxime to p-hydroxymandelonitrile requires a single oxygen molecule. The oxygen molecule is utilized for hydroxylation of p-hydroxyphenylacetonitrile into p-hydroxymandelonitrile. This indicates that the conversion of p-hydroxyphenylacetaldehyde oxime into p-hydroxyphenylacetonitrile proceeds by a simple dehydration reaction.

Over a period of 60 months, percutaneous nonendoscopic gastrostomy for enteral feeding was successfully performed with the Seldinger technique in 250 of 252 consecutive patients. Local anesthetics alone (without intravenous sedatives) were used in 248 patients (98%). The 30-day mortality was 14.2% and included two procedure-related deaths (0.8%). Major complications necessitating surgery occurred in three patients (1.2%), and one patient had a major gastrointestinal hemorrhage (0.4%) treated medically. Minor complications occurred in 4.4% of patients. The results compare favorably with those found with alternative techniques (surgical or endoscopic) for gastrostomy. The authors conclude that this procedure is simple, is relatively safe, and represents a preferred method of gastrostomy for enteral feeding.

In vitro studies with a microsomal system obtained from etiolated sorghum seedlings have indicated a biosynthetic pathway for cyanogenic glucosides involving amino acids, N-hydroxyamino acids, aldoximes, nitriles and cyanohydrins. NADPH is an essential cofactor. Simultaneous measurements of tyrosine metabolism and oxygen consumption show that three molecules of oxygen are consumed for each molecule of p-hydroxymandelonitrile produced. This indicates the operation of three monooxygenases in the pathway and implies the involvement of one hitherto undetected intermediate in the pathway. The nature of this intermediate is unknown. Gel filtration and sucrose gradient centrifugation of the microsomal system resulted in a more than tenfold increase in specific activity. Attempts to further purify the system did not produce preparations of higher specific activity because of a simultaneous partial loss of essential components as demonstrated by reconstitution experiments.

The biosynthesis of the tyrosine-derived cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin has been studied with a microsomal preparation obtained from etiolated seedlings of sorghum. The biosynthetic pathway involves tyrosine, N-hydroxytyrosine, and p-hydroxyphenylacetaldehyde oxime as early intermediates (Møller, B. L. and Conn, E. E. (1980) J. Biol. Chem. 254, 8575-8583). The use of deuterium-labeled tyrosine and mass spectrometric analyses demonstrate that the alpha-hydrogen atom of tyrosine is retained in the conversion of tyrosine to p-hydroxyphenylacetaldehyde oxime. This excludes p-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid oxime as intermediate in the pathway. A high pressure liquid chromatography method was developed to separate the (E)- and (Z)-isomers of p-hydroxyphenylacetaldehyde oxime. The microsomal enzyme system was found to produce initially the (E)-isomer of p-hydroxyphenylacetaldehyde oxime. An isomerase then converts the (E)-isomer to the (Z)-isomer, which is the isomer preferentially utilized by the microsomal enzyme system in the subsequent biosynthetic reactions. The (E)-isomer produced in situ is more efficiently converted to the (Z)-isomer than exogenously added (E)-isomer and may thus be metabolically channeled.