Disease relevance of VGDH2

• Annotation predicts that QRT1 encodes a pectin methylesterase (PME), and enzymatic assays of QRT1 expressed in Escherichia coli indicate that QRT1 has PME activity [1].

High impact information on VGDH2

• Functional interruption of VGD1 reduced PME activity in the pollen to 82% of the wild type and greatly retarded the growth of the pollen tube in the style and transmitting tract, resulting in a significant reduction of male fertility [2].
• Pectin methylesterase (PME) and invertase are key enzymes in plant carbohydrate metabolism [3].
• Application of an exogenous PME induces thickening of the apical cell wall and inhibits pollen tube growth [4].
• Screening a Nicotiana tabacum pollen cDNA library yielded a pollen-specific PME, NtPPME1, containing a pre-region and a pro-region [4].
• Functional classification of the expressed genes reveals that those involved in cellular biogenesis such as polygalacturonase, pectate lyase, and pectin methylesterase make up more than 40% of the total transcripts [5].

Biological context of VGDH2

• Our results, in combination with several known expressed sequences tags (ESTs), indicate that the Arabidopsis genome contains at least 12 PME-related genes [6].
• These results showed that B. cinerea possessed more than one PME-encoding gene and that BCPME1 is an important determinant of B. cinerea virulence [7].
• In this paper, we report the characterization of AtPME3, a new PME-related gene of 4kb in length that we have mapped on Chromosome III [6].
• In order to better define the biological role of these isoenzymes in plant cell growth and differentiation, we undertook molecular studies on the PME-encoding genes in Arabidopsis thaliana [6].
• PME action produces pectin with different structural and functional properties, having an important role in plant physiology [8].

Anatomical context of VGDH2

• In addition to providing experimental data that help resolve the significance and function of the pro-region, our results give insight into the mechanism by which PME and its pro-region regulate the cell wall dynamics of growing pollen tubes [4].

Associations of VGDH2 with chemical compounds

• The pectinolytic enzyme pectin methylesterase (PME) hydrolyses pectin in methanol and polygalacturonic acid [7].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of VGDH2

• Affinity chromatography on resin-bound PMEI can also be used to concentrate and detect residual PME activity in fruit and vegetable products [8].

References