Structural and evolutionary characterization of phospholipid:diacylglycerol acyltransferase in photosynthetic organisms

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dc.contributor.authorFalarz, Lucas José
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeGarroway, Colin (Biological Sciences) Hu, Pingzhao (Biochemistry and Medical Genetics)en_US
dc.contributor.supervisorChen, Guanqun (Gavin) - (Biological Sciences)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2019-09-11T14:39:21Z
dc.date.available2019-09-11T14:39:21Z
dc.date.issued2019-06-18en_US
dc.date.submitted2019-06-18T17:29:40Zen
dc.degree.disciplineBiological Sciencesen_US
dc.degree.levelMaster of Science (M.Sc.)en_US
dc.description.abstractPhospholipid:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (PDAT) catalyzes the last step in acyl-CoA independent triacylglycerol biosynthesis in algae and higher plants. Although PDAT has been characterized in some algal and plant species, the evolution and structural properties of this important enzyme at the broad level of photosynthetic organisms is yet to be studied. In this study, a reliable fluorescence-based PDAT assay was first developed to replace the costly and lab-extensive radiolabelling method. The novel method, as well as various biotechnological and in silico analyses, were then used to explore the structural and evolutionary properties of PDATs. The results showed that functional divergence and positive selection present in the evolution of PDAT in green algae and plants. The identified positive selection sites are important in PDAT activity and thus would be candidate sites for modifying PDAT via protein engineering. In addition, PDAT evolved to be more important for plant metabolism and fitness than algae.en_US
dc.description.noteOctober 2019en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1993/34203
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsopen accessen_US
dc.subjectPhospholipid:diacylglycerol acyltransferaseen_US
dc.subjectAlgaeen_US
dc.subjectViridiplantaeen_US
dc.subjectTriacylglycerol biosynthesisen_US
dc.subjectNitrobenzoxadiazoleen_US
dc.subjectIn vitro assayen_US
dc.subjectFunctional divergenceen_US
dc.subjectPositive selectionen_US
dc.titleStructural and evolutionary characterization of phospholipid:diacylglycerol acyltransferase in photosynthetic organismsen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
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