Cong-Zhao Zhou

Abstract In plants, peroxisomal β oxidation is essential for energy production, sugar metabolism and the regulation of hormonal signaling. The Arabidopsis COMATOSE (CTS) gene, which encodes the peroxisomal ATP-binding cassette transporter ABCD1 (also known as CTS or PAX1), mediates the import of various fatty acyls and hormones into peroxisomes for β oxidation.

Abstract Maintaining carbon/nitrogen (C/N) metabolic balance is essential for cellular homeostasis, allowing microorganisms to adapt to fluctuating environmental conditions. In the autotrophic cyanobacteria, the C/N balance is achieved through a sophisticated network that coordinates the uptake of inorganic carbon and nitrogen, including the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters CmpABCD and NRT that import bicarbonate and nitrate, respectively.

Pterin glycosides are widely distributed in cyanobacteria and have been implicated in the regulation of phototaxis and photosynthesis. Here, we identified a new uridine diphosphate glucose:tetrahydrobiopterin α-glucosyltransferase, termed PsBGluT, from Pseudanabaena sp. Chao 1811, which catalyzes the formation of pterin glycosides. We solved crystal structures of apo PsBGluT and its UDP-bound form at 2.8 and 2.3 Å resolution, respectively.