Lysine is an amino acid, a building block of many
different proteins; a protein lego if you will, and it is an essential amino
acid for mammals like us; we acquire it from our diet while plants and bacteria
make their own. The ultimate source of
lysine for all organisms is plants, but plants only need a little bit of lysine
because in large amounts it is toxic to plants.
Several agricultural companies have been looking into overexpressing
lysine in plants because it would be beneficial in at least two settings. In several developing countries most of the
population’s diet consists strictly of cereals such as rice, wheat, oats, and
maize, and a diet consisting only of them without any meat or plants such as
soy that have higher protein content would result in protein deficiencies.
Livestock also needs a large amount of lysine which their staple food maize
does not contain.
However, creating a method that would generate more lysine
in plants has been slow in coming because scientists had assumed that plants
produced lysine through the same pathway as bacteria. It was as a graduate student that Andre
Hudson first realized that perhaps plants used a different pathway. He was given the task of identifying all the
different amino acid pathways in Arabidopsis
thaliana, an organism used as a model plant in the laboratory because its
genome has been completely sequenced. He noticed that there were several
enzymes missing in the plant pathway that were present in bacterial pathways
such as E.coli. He then asked the question how plants convert
the same starting molecules as those found in bacteria into lysine. He discovered that plants had a unique
molecule that allowed it to skip several steps and the associated enzymes. By
constantly asking questions Andre Hudson and his mentor at the time and
collaborators were able to unravel other unknown information of the pathway
such as the molecular structure of the pathway enzymes, and the different
mechanisms that regulate it.
Also, In order to understand how he could overexpress
lysine in plants. Hudson now with a phD and a working as a professor looked for
and identified the molecule responsible for breaking down lysine, and is
looking into what can be used to stop lysine breakdown therefore allowing
plants to retain more lysine. If plants
are able to retain more lysine, then animal feed that is used to feed livestock
would be protein-rich sustaining animal growth and development.
Analyzing this pathway and manipulating it is very
similar to using a recipe and making a dish you’ve never made before. You need to first understand how to make it,
what to put in what and at what time and for how long should it cook, and then
when you’re done making it for the first time.
It most likely will not taste like you expected so you need to
manipulate the recipe until you get the desired results, by asking questions:
how can I get rid of this slight bitter tastes, or spicy taste, or how do I
make it more sweeter etc. In the same
way the plant lysine synthesis pathway is a recipe that Dr. Hudson uses and
manipulates in order to get his desired results. In fact most of the time Dr. Hudson spends
his time working on several different questions at the same time. In addition to exploring how lysine can be
overexpressed; he is also looking to go in the other direction and explore how
to stop its expression all together. The
answer to that question could result in a beneficial herbicide or algaecide.
Many important bodies of water such as the Great Lakes
are afflicted by algal blooms. The Great
Lakes all together make up the largest freshwater system on Earth. Even the individual lakes are big enough to be
seen from the moon. However, this important resource is threatened. Runoffs from farms, lawns and sewage wastes create
toxic algal blooms. There is an enzyme unique to the plant pathway which
is termed Lys A. Lys A converts an
intermediate molecule into lysine. The
mechanism of the algaecide would work by targeting that enzyme using substrates
or molecules that would fit the shape of an enzyme like a lock and key. It would have the shape of the intermediate
molecule and compete with it to occupy the “lock” of the enzyme. If the algae were overwhelmed with the
artificially made but non-usable keys no lysine would be produced. This particular mechanism has one very
important potential benefit. It can be used to fight algae that already exists
on the water surface. Currently algaecide is used strictly as a preventative
method because byproducts that form as a result of its interaction with the
algae is just as toxic to other organisms as the algae itself. This mechanism could offer a new type of
algaecide that can be applied directly on the algal blooms and be used when
preventative measures do not work.
The lysine synthesis pathway demonstrates how useful
understanding Biological processes are.
Just from understanding one pathway we can derive three different uses
for it, maybe more if we are creative enough.
Similarly taking this approach of understanding a mechanism instead of
goal searching can be applied in other Biological study. It would be crucial in medical research
because Biological processes tend to have more than one effect on the
body. One pathway can govern more than
one part of the body.
This article
was intended to appear in The New York
Times or another newspaper or publication.
References
Dobson RCJ, Girón I,
Hudson AO, 2011L,L-Diaminopimelate Aminotransferase from
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: A Target for Algaecide Development.PLoS ONE 6(5):e20439.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020439
Galili G, Ufaz Shai, Improving the
Content of Essential Amino Acids in Crop Plants: Goals and Opportunities Plant Physiol. 2008
147: 954-961. doi:10.1104/pp.108.118091
different proteins; a protein lego if you will, and it is an essential amino
acid for mammals like us; we acquire it from our diet while plants and bacteria
make their own. The ultimate source of
lysine for all organisms is plants, but plants only need a little bit of lysine
because in large amounts it is toxic to plants.
Several agricultural companies have been looking into overexpressing
lysine in plants because it would be beneficial in at least two settings. In several developing countries most of the
population’s diet consists strictly of cereals such as rice, wheat, oats, and
maize, and a diet consisting only of them without any meat or plants such as
soy that have higher protein content would result in protein deficiencies.
Livestock also needs a large amount of lysine which their staple food maize
does not contain.
However, creating a method that would generate more lysine
in plants has been slow in coming because scientists had assumed that plants
produced lysine through the same pathway as bacteria. It was as a graduate student that Andre
Hudson first realized that perhaps plants used a different pathway. He was given the task of identifying all the
different amino acid pathways in Arabidopsis
thaliana, an organism used as a model plant in the laboratory because its
genome has been completely sequenced. He noticed that there were several
enzymes missing in the plant pathway that were present in bacterial pathways
such as E.coli. He then asked the question how plants convert
the same starting molecules as those found in bacteria into lysine. He discovered that plants had a unique
molecule that allowed it to skip several steps and the associated enzymes. By
constantly asking questions Andre Hudson and his mentor at the time and
collaborators were able to unravel other unknown information of the pathway
such as the molecular structure of the pathway enzymes, and the different
mechanisms that regulate it.
Also, In order to understand how he could overexpress
lysine in plants. Hudson now with a phD and a working as a professor looked for
and identified the molecule responsible for breaking down lysine, and is
looking into what can be used to stop lysine breakdown therefore allowing
plants to retain more lysine. If plants
are able to retain more lysine, then animal feed that is used to feed livestock
would be protein-rich sustaining animal growth and development.
Analyzing this pathway and manipulating it is very
similar to using a recipe and making a dish you’ve never made before. You need to first understand how to make it,
what to put in what and at what time and for how long should it cook, and then
when you’re done making it for the first time.
It most likely will not taste like you expected so you need to
manipulate the recipe until you get the desired results, by asking questions:
how can I get rid of this slight bitter tastes, or spicy taste, or how do I
make it more sweeter etc. In the same
way the plant lysine synthesis pathway is a recipe that Dr. Hudson uses and
manipulates in order to get his desired results. In fact most of the time Dr. Hudson spends
his time working on several different questions at the same time. In addition to exploring how lysine can be
overexpressed; he is also looking to go in the other direction and explore how
to stop its expression all together. The
answer to that question could result in a beneficial herbicide or algaecide.
Many important bodies of water such as the Great Lakes
are afflicted by algal blooms. The Great
Lakes all together make up the largest freshwater system on Earth. Even the individual lakes are big enough to be
seen from the moon. However, this important resource is threatened. Runoffs from farms, lawns and sewage wastes create
toxic algal blooms. There is an enzyme unique to the plant pathway which
is termed Lys A. Lys A converts an
intermediate molecule into lysine. The
mechanism of the algaecide would work by targeting that enzyme using substrates
or molecules that would fit the shape of an enzyme like a lock and key. It would have the shape of the intermediate
molecule and compete with it to occupy the “lock” of the enzyme. If the algae were overwhelmed with the
artificially made but non-usable keys no lysine would be produced. This particular mechanism has one very
important potential benefit. It can be used to fight algae that already exists
on the water surface. Currently algaecide is used strictly as a preventative
method because byproducts that form as a result of its interaction with the
algae is just as toxic to other organisms as the algae itself. This mechanism could offer a new type of
algaecide that can be applied directly on the algal blooms and be used when
preventative measures do not work.
The lysine synthesis pathway demonstrates how useful
understanding Biological processes are.
Just from understanding one pathway we can derive three different uses
for it, maybe more if we are creative enough.
Similarly taking this approach of understanding a mechanism instead of
goal searching can be applied in other Biological study. It would be crucial in medical research
because Biological processes tend to have more than one effect on the
body. One pathway can govern more than
one part of the body.
This article
was intended to appear in The New York
Times or another newspaper or publication.
References
Dobson RCJ, Girón I,
Hudson AO, 2011L,L-Diaminopimelate Aminotransferase from
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: A Target for Algaecide Development.PLoS ONE 6(5):e20439.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020439
Galili G, Ufaz Shai, Improving the
Content of Essential Amino Acids in Crop Plants: Goals and Opportunities Plant Physiol. 2008
147: 954-961. doi:10.1104/pp.108.118091
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