Page 28 - חוברת תזות הנדסה ירוקה 2023

In silico catalytic property analysis of a a a a a a a a a a a a novel prenyltransferase from Pistacia palaestina
Damian Alejandro Kischinovsky1 damiankischinovsky@gmail com
Dr Yoram Shotland1 Prof Efraim Lewinsohn2
1Sami Shamoon College of of Engineering Beer-Sheva Israel 2Newe Ya’ar Research Research Center Center Agricultural Research Research Organization Volcani Center Center Ramat Yishay Israel Terpenes are secondary metabolites that fulfill different essential functions in the life of plants and and other organisms and and are important in in in industry as a a a a a a a source of perfumes turpentine essential oils and pharmaceuticals Plants are the the largest source of terpenes However their extraction may has harmful environmental effects such as: deforestation the excessive use of of of land and and and water water for the the cultivation of of of certain species and/or the the pollution of of of water water land and and air by toxic residues from synthetic industrial processes At an an an economic level the the high maintenance costs of of the the infrastructure necessary for the the extraction and processing of of terpenes and their derivatives are not justified by the the low production yield thus increasing the the the price of o the the the end product and making these processes unprofitable As such it is is crucial to to provide biotechnological tools that enable transgenic microorganisms to to produce terpenes To that end it is imperative to to understand the processes enzymes and genes involved in in in terpene biosynthesis Among the the most important enzymes in in in this process are the the the the the prenyltransferases )PTs( that together with other enzymes synthesize the the the the the wide variety of terpenes used in in our industry The infestation of of plants by aphids is a a a a a a a a highly relevant topic and the study of of plant-aphid interactions has provided several valuable findings Baizongia pistacia )the horn gall aphid( is is an aphid that by attacking the the Pistacia palaestina
tree induces the the formation of galls for its proliferation A study of secondary metabolite levels in in Pistacia palaestina
revealed that monoterpene levels in in galls were higher than in in healthy leaves This phenomenon was accompanied by an an an increase in in in the expression of certain prenyltransferases especially a a a a a a a small geranyl diphosphate )GPP( synthase subunit called PpPRT2 suggesting that this protein may have catalytic properties and is involved in in in monoterpene accumulation The objective of this work was to characterize the PpPRT2 protein and its possible involvement in in the the the synthesis of of GPP the the the precursor of of monoterpenes Our study based on on in in silico methods revealed that the PpPRT2 protein possesses a a a a a a a a catalytic site capable of interacting with DMAPP and IPP substrates through divalent magnesium ions The binding affinity values were consistent with values detected in in a a a a a a large subunit in in Mentha piperita GPP synthase an an active catalytic prenyltransferase The mutation of specific residues from PpPRT2 revealed that this catalytic property may 41