• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.87-95
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• 2000

As sunlight not always optimized for every terrestrial plant in terms of light quality, quantity and duration, some plants suffer detrimental effects of sunlight exposure under certain conditions. Photoinhibition of photosynthesis is a typical phenomenon representing harmful light effects, commonly observed in many photosynthetic organisms. It is generally accepted that functional, structural loss of photosystem II complex(PSII) is the primary event of photoinhibition. Accumulating data also suggest that singlet oxygen($^1$O$_2$) is the main toxic species directly involved in it. There are two different views on the specific site and mechanism of $^1$O$_2$ production in the photosynthetic membrane. One of them favors the PSII reaction center, where the primary charge pairs recombination occurs as a prerequisite for the generation of $^1$O$_2$, and the other inclines to photosensitized $^1$O$_2$ formation by a substance located outside PSII. This article describes how we, as the advocators of the latter concept, have arrived at the conclusion that $^1$O$_2$ immediately involved in PSII photodamage is largely generated from the Rieske center of the cytochrome b$_{6}$/f complex and diffuses into PSII, attacking the reaction center subunits.s.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.38-42
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• 2002

The strain KKI isolated from soil contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was identified as Pseundomonas sp. based on analyses by MIDI and Biolog Identification System. Cellular and physiological responses of strain KKI to two-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, naphthalene were evaluated using radiorespirometry, PLFAs and sequence analysis of Rieske-type iron sulfur center of dioxygenase. KKI was found to be able to rapidly mineralize naphthalene. Notably, KKI cells pregrown on phenanthrene were able to mineralize naphthalene much more rapidly than naphthalenepregrown cells. The total cellular fatty acids of KKI were comprised of eleven C-even and two C-odd fatty acids (fatty acids < 0.2% in abundance were not considered in this calculation). Lipids 12:0 2OH, 12:03 OH, 16:0, 18:1 6c, 18:0 increased for naphthalene-exposed cells, while lipids 18:1 7c1/15:0 ism 2OH, 17:0 cyclo, 18:1 7c, 19:0 cyclo decreased. Data from Northern hybridization using a naphthalene dixoygenase gene fragment cloned out from KKI as a probe provided the information that naphthalene dioxygenase gene was more highly expressed in cells grown on phenanthrene than naphthalene.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.11
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• pp.950-958
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• 2015

BCS1L gene encodes mitochondrial protein and is a member of conserved AAA protein family. This gene is involved in the incorporation of Rieske FeS and Qcr10p into complex III of respiratory chain. In our previous study, AluYRa2-derived alternative transcript in rhesus monkey genome was identified. However, this transcript has not been reported in human genome. In present study, we conducted evolutionary analysis of AluYRa2-exonized transcript with various primate genomic DNAs and cDNAs from humans, rhesus monkeys, and crabeating monkeys. Remarkably, our results show that AluYRa2 element has only been integrated into genomes of Macaca species. This Macaca lineage-specific integration of AluYRa2 element led to exonization event in the first intron region of BCS1L gene by producing a conserved 3' splice site. Intriguingly, in rhesus and crabeating monkeys, more diverse transcript variants by alternative splicing (AS) events, including exon skipping and different 5' splice sites from humans, were identified. Alignment of amino acid sequences revealed that AluYRa2-exonized transcript has short N-terminal peptides. Therefore, AS events play a major role in the generation of various transcripts and proteins during primate evolution. In particular, lineage-specific integration of Alu elements and species-specific Alu-derived exonization events could be important sources of gene diversification in primates.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.729-734
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• 2002

Radiorespirometric analysis revealed that Pseudomonas sp. strain KKI isolated from a soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons was able to catabolize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as phenanthrene and naphthalene. The rate and extent of phenanthrene mineralization was markedly enhanced when the cells were pregrown on either naphthalene or phenanthrene, compared to the cells grown on universal carbon sources (i.e., TSA medium). Deduced amino acid sequence of the Rieske-type iron-sulfur center of a putative phenanthrene dioxygenase (PhnAl) obtained from the strain KKI shared significant homology with DxnAl (dioxin dioxygenase) from Spingomonas sp. RW1, BphA1b (biphenyl dioxygenase) from Spingomonas aromaticivorans F199, and PhnAc (phenanthrene diokygenase) from Burkholderia sp. RP007 or Alcaligenes faecalis AFK2. Northern hybridization using the dioxygenase gene fragment cloned from KKI showed that the expression of the putative phn dioxygenase gene reached the highest level in cells grown in the minimal medium containing phenanthrene and $KNO_3$, and the expression of the phn gene was repressed in cells grown with glucose. In addition to the metabolic change, phospholipid ester-linked fatty acids (PLFA) analysis revealed that the total cellular fatty acid composition of KKI was significantly changed in response to phenanthrene. Fatty acids such as 14:0, 16:0 3OH, 17:0 cyclo, 18:1$\omega$7c, 19:0 cyclo increased in phenanthrene-exposed cells, while fatty acids such as 10:0 3OH, 12:0, 12:0 2OH, 12:0 3OH, 16:1$\omega$7c, 15:0 iso 2OH, 16:0, 18:1$\omega$6c, 18:0 decreased.