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Glycine Cleavage System
The glycine cleavage system (GCS) is also known as the glycine decarboxylase complex or GDC. The system is a series of enzymes that are triggered in response to high concentrations of the amino acid glycine. The same set of enzymes is sometimes referred to as glycine synthase when it runs in the reverse direction to form glycine. The glycine cleavage system is composed of four proteins: the T-protein, P-protein, L-protein, and H-protein. They do not form a stable complex, so it is more appropriate to call it a "system" instead of a "complex". The H-protein is responsible for interacting with the three other proteins and acts as a shuttle for some of the intermediate products in glycine decarboxylation. In both animals and plants, the glycine cleavage system is loosely attached to the inner membrane of the mitochondria. Mutations in this enzymatic system are linked with glycine encephalopathy. Components Function In plants, animals and bacteria the glycine cleavage system catal ...
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Glycine
Glycine (symbol Gly or G; ) is an amino acid that has a single hydrogen atom as its side chain. It is the simplest stable amino acid. Glycine is one of the proteinogenic amino acids. It is encoded by all the codons starting with GG (GGU, GGC, GGA, GGG). Glycine disrupts the formation of alpha-helices in secondary protein structure. Its small side chain causes it to favor random coils instead. Glycine is also an inhibitory neurotransmitter – interference with its release within the spinal cord (such as during a '' Clostridium tetani'' infection) can cause spastic paralysis due to uninhibited muscle contraction. It is the only achiral proteinogenic amino acid. It can fit into both hydrophilic and hydrophobic environments, due to its minimal side chain of only one hydrogen atom. History and etymology Glycine was discovered in 1820 by French chemist Henri Braconnot when he hydrolyzed gelatin by boiling it with sulfuric acid. He originally called it "sugar of ...
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Lipoate
Lipoic acid (LA), also known as α-lipoic acid, alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) and thioctic acid, is an organosulfur compound derived from caprylic acid (octanoic acid). ALA, which is made in animals normally, is essential for aerobic metabolism. It is also available as a dietary supplement or pharmaceutical drug in some countries. Lipoate is the conjugate base of lipoic acid, and the most prevalent form of LA under physiological conditions. Only the (''R'')-(+)-enantiomer (RLA) exists in nature. RLA is an essential cofactor of many processes. Physical and chemical properties Lipoic acid contains two sulfur atoms connected by a disulfide bond in the 1,2-dithiolane ring. It also carries a carboxylic acid group. It is considered to be oxidized relative to its acyclic relative dihydrolipoic acid, in which each sulfur exists as a thiol. It is a yellow solid. (''R'')-(+)-lipoic acid (RLA) occurs naturally, but (''S'')-(-)-lipoic acid (SLA) has been synthesized. For use in dietary suppl ...
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Spinach
Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central Asia, Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed either fresh or after storage, using Food preservation, preservation techniques by canning, Freezing (food), freezing, or Dehydrated food, dehydration. It may be eaten cooked or raw, and the taste differs considerably; the high oxalate content may be reduced by steaming. It is an annual plant (rarely biennial plant, biennial), growing as tall as . Spinach may Overwintering, overwinter in temperate regions. The leaf, leaves are alternate, simple, ovate to triangular, and very variable in size: long and broad, with larger leaves at the base of the plant and small leaves higher on the flowering stem. The flowers are inconspicuous, yellow-green, in diameter, and mature into a small, hard, dry, lumpy fruit cluster across containing several see ...
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Mitochondria
A mitochondrion () is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used throughout the cell as a source of chemical energy. They were discovered by Albert von Kölliker in 1857 in the voluntary muscles of insects. The term ''mitochondrion'', meaning a thread-like granule, was coined by Carl Benda in 1898. The mitochondrion is popularly nicknamed the "powerhouse of the cell", a phrase popularized by Philip Siekevitz in a 1957 ''Scientific American'' article of the same name. Some cells in some multicellular organisms lack mitochondria (for example, mature mammalian red blood cells). The multicellular animal '' Henneguya salminicola'' is known to have retained mitochondrion-related organelles despite a complete loss of their mitochondrial genome. A large number of unicellular organisms, such as microspo ...
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NADPH
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, abbreviated NADP or, in older notation, TPN (triphosphopyridine nucleotide), is a cofactor used in anabolic reactions, such as the Calvin cycle and lipid and nucleic acid syntheses, which require NADPH as a reducing agent ('hydrogen source'). NADPH is the reduced form, whereas NADP is the oxidized form. NADP is used by all forms of cellular life. NADP is essential for life because it is needed for cellular respiration. NADP differs from NAD by the presence of an additional phosphate group on the 2' position of the ribose ring that carries the adenine moiety. This extra phosphate is added by NAD+ kinase and removed by NADP+ phosphatase. Biosynthesis NADP In general, NADP+ is synthesized before NADPH is. Such a reaction usually starts with NAD+ from either the de-novo or the salvage pathway, with NAD+ kinase adding the extra phosphate group. ADP-ribosyl cyclase allows for synthesis from nicotinamide in the salvage pathway, ...
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Adenosine Triphosphate
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a nucleoside triphosphate that provides energy to drive and support many processes in living cell (biology), cells, such as muscle contraction, nerve impulse propagation, and chemical synthesis. Found in all known forms of life, it is often referred to as the "molecular unit of currency" for intracellular energy transfer. When consumed in a Metabolism, metabolic process, ATP converts either to adenosine diphosphate (ADP) or to adenosine monophosphate (AMP). Other processes regenerate ATP. It is also a Precursor (chemistry), precursor to DNA and RNA, and is used as a coenzyme. An average adult human processes around 50 kilograms (about 100 mole (unit), moles) daily. From the perspective of biochemistry, ATP is classified as a nucleoside triphosphate, which indicates that it consists of three components: a nitrogenous base (adenine), the sugar ribose, and the Polyphosphate, triphosphate. Structure ATP consists of three parts: a sugar, an amine base ...
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Glutamine Oxoglutarate Aminotransferase
Glutamate synthase (also known as Glutamine oxoglutarate aminotransferase) is an enzyme and frequently abbreviated as GOGAT. This enzyme manufactures glutamate from glutamine and α-ketoglutarate, and thus along with glutamine synthetase (abbreviated GS) plays a central role in the regulation of nitrogen assimilation in photosynthetic eukaryotes and prokaryotes."Phylogenetic Relationships Among Glutamate Synthase (GOGAT) Enzymes" Eva Zadykowicz and Deborah L. Robertson; Department of Biology, Clark University, Worcester, MA"Practical Streptomyces Genetics" Keiser et al; John Innes Foundation, Norwich, England This is of great importance as primary productivity in many marine environments is regulated by the availability of inorganic nitrogen. The primary sources of inorganic nitrogen used by marine algae are nitrate and ammonium. Both forms are ultimately incorporated into amino acids through the sequential reaction of glutamine synthetase (GS) and glutamate synthase (glutamine:2-o ...
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Glutamine Synthetase
Glutamine synthetase (GS) () is an enzyme that catalyzes the condensation of glutamate and ammonia to form glutamine: Glutamate + ATP + NH3 → Glutamine + ADP + phosphate Glutamine synthetase uses ammonia produced by nitrate reduction, amino acid degradation, and photorespiration. The amide group of glutamate is a nitrogen source for the synthesis of glutamine pathway metabolites. Other reactions may take place via GS. Competition between ammonium ion and water, their binding affinities, and the concentration of ammonium ion, influences glutamine synthesis and glutamine hydrolysis. Glutamine is formed if an ammonium ion attacks the acyl-phosphate intermediate, while glutamate is remade if water attacks the intermediate. Ammonium ion binds more strongly than water to GS due to electrostatic forces between a cation and a negatively charged pocket. Another possible reaction is upon NH2OH binding to GS, rather than NH4+, yields γ-glutamylhydroxamate. Structure Glu ...
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Serine
Serine (symbol Ser or S) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an α- amino group (which is in the protonated − form under biological conditions), a carboxyl group (which is in the deprotonated − form under biological conditions), and a side chain consisting of a hydroxymethyl group, classifying it as a polar amino acid. It can be synthesized in the human body under normal physiological circumstances, making it a nonessential amino acid. It is encoded by the codons UCU, UCC, UCA, UCG, AGU and AGC. Occurrence This compound is one of the proteinogenic amino acids. Only the L- stereoisomer appears naturally in proteins. It is not essential to the human diet, since it is synthesized in the body from other metabolites, including glycine. Serine was first obtained from silk protein, a particularly rich source, in 1865 by Emil Cramer. Its name is derived from the Latin for silk, '' sericum''. Serine's structure was established in ...
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Calvin Cycle
The Calvin cycle, light-independent reactions, bio synthetic phase, dark reactions, or photosynthetic carbon reduction (PCR) cycle of photosynthesis is a series of chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and hydrogen-carrier compounds into glucose. The Calvin cycle is present in all photosynthetic eukaryotes and also many photosynthetic bacteria. In plants, these reactions occur in the stroma, the fluid-filled region of a chloroplast outside the thylakoid membranes. These reactions take the products ( ATP and NADPH) of light-dependent reactions and perform further chemical processes on them. The Calvin cycle uses the chemical energy of ATP and the reducing power of NADPH from the light-dependent reactions to produce sugars for the plant to use. These substrates are used in a series of reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions to produce sugars in a step-wise process; there is no direct reaction that converts several molecules of to a sugar. There are three phases to the ligh ...
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Photorespiration
Photorespiration (also known as the oxidative photosynthetic carbon cycle or C2 cycle) refers to a process in plant physiology, plant metabolism where the enzyme RuBisCO oxygenates RuBP, wasting some of the energy produced by photosynthesis. The desired reaction is the addition of carbon dioxide to RuBP (carboxylation), a key step in the Calvin–Benson cycle, but approximately 25% of reactions by RuBisCO instead add oxygen to RuBP (Oxygenase, oxygenation), creating a product that cannot be used within the Calvin–Benson cycle. This process lowers the efficiency of photosynthesis, potentially lowering photosynthetic output by 25% in C3 carbon fixation, plants. Photorespiration involves a complex network of enzyme reactions that exchange metabolites between chloroplasts, leaf peroxisomes and mitochondria. The oxygenation reaction of RuBisCO is a wasteful process because 3-Phosphoglyceric acid, 3-phosphoglycerate is created at a lower rate and higher metabolic cost compared wit ...
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Glycine Serine Catabolism
Glycine (symbol Gly or G; ) is an amino acid that has a single hydrogen atom as its side chain. It is the simplest stable amino acid. Glycine is one of the proteinogenic amino acids. It is encoded by all the codons starting with GG (GGU, GGC, GGA, GGG). Glycine disrupts the formation of alpha-helices in secondary protein structure. Its small side chain causes it to favor random coils instead. Glycine is also an inhibitory neurotransmitter – interference with its release within the spinal cord (such as during a ''Clostridium tetani'' infection) can cause spastic paralysis due to uninhibited muscle contraction. It is the only achiral proteinogenic amino acid. It can fit into both hydrophilic and hydrophobic environments, due to its minimal side chain of only one hydrogen atom. History and etymology Glycine was discovered in 1820 by French chemist Henri Braconnot when he hydrolyzed gelatin by boiling it with sulfuric acid. He originally called it "sugar of gelatin", but Fr ...
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