skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Search for: All records

Creators/Authors contains: "Smith, Kathryn A."

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

  1. Abstract Plant peroxisomes host critical metabolic reactions and insulate the rest of the cell from reactive byproducts. The specialization of peroxisomal reactions is rooted in how the organelle modulates its proteome to be suitable for the tissue, environment, and developmental stage of the organism. The story of plant peroxisomal proteostasis begins with transcriptional regulation of peroxisomal protein genes and the synthesis, trafficking, import, and folding of peroxisomal proteins. The saga continues with assembly and disaggregation by chaperones and degradation via proteases or the proteasome. The story concludes with organelle recycling via autophagy. Some of these processes as well as the proteins that facilitate them are peroxisome-specific, while others are shared among organelles. Our understanding of translational regulation of plant peroxisomal protein transcripts and proteins necessary for pexophagy remain based in findings from other models. Recent strides to elucidate transcriptional control, membrane dynamics, protein trafficking, and conditions that induce peroxisome turnover have expanded our knowledge of plant peroxisomal proteostasis. Here we review our current understanding of the processes and proteins necessary for plant peroxisome proteostasis—the emergence, maintenance, and clearance of the peroxisomal proteome. 
    more » « less
  2. Abstract Pyrrolysine (Pyl, O) exists in nature as the 22ndproteinogenic amino acid. Despite being a fundamental building block of proteins, studies of Pyl have been hindered by the difficulty and inefficiency of both its chemical and biological syntheses. Here, we improve Pyl biosynthesis via rational engineering and directed evolution of the entire biosynthetic pathway. To accommodate toxicity of Pyl biosynthetic genes inEscherichia coli, we also develop Alternating Phage Assisted Non-Continuous Evolution (Alt-PANCE) that alternates mutagenic and selective phage growths. The evolved pathway provides 32-fold improved yield of Pyl-containing reporter protein compared to the rationally engineered ancestor. Evolved PylB mutants are present at up to 4.5-fold elevated levels inside cells, and show up to 2.2-fold increased protease resistance. This study demonstrates that Alt-PANCE provides a general approach for evolving proteins exhibiting toxic side effects, and further provides an improved pathway capable of producing substantially greater quantities of Pyl-proteins inE. coli. 
    more » « less