Disease relevance of Hydrocharitaceae

• Proteins encoded by Sphingomonas elodea ATCC 31461 rmlA and ugpG genes, involved in gellan gum biosynthesis, exhibit both dTDP- and UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase activities [1].
• Native gellan, the natural form of the polysaccharide excreted by the bacterium Pseudomonas elodea, has a tetrasaccharide repeating unit that contains L-glycerol and acetate ester groups, and forms only weak and elastic gels [2].
• At 25 mW trapping beam power at the object plane E. coli bacteria could be rotated at speeds approaching 10 Hz and an intracellular object (presumably a calcium oxalate crystal) trapped inside Elodea densa plant cell could be rotated with speeds of up to 4 Hz [3].
• In support of that hypothesis, two coots that ingested Hydrilla sampled from a lake with an ongoing AVM outbreak in wild birds developed neurologic signs within 9 days (ataxia, limb weakness, and incoordination), and one of two coots that ingested Hydrilla collected from the same site 13 days later became sick and died within 38 days [4].

High impact information on Hydrocharitaceae

• Photosynthetic and other phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase isoforms in the single-cell, facultative C(4) system of Hydrilla verticillata [5].
• Detection of the free-living forms of sulfide-oxidizing gill endosymbionts in the lucinid habitat (Thalassia testudinum environment) [6].
• Phospholipid fatty acid analyses showed that sulfate-reducing bacteria and clostridia were enriched in sediments colonized by the sea grasses Halodule wrightii and Thalassia testudinum compared to an adjacent unvegetated sediment [7].
• We report for the first time in higher plants three independent herbicide-resistant hydrilla biotypes arising from the selection of somatic mutations at the arginine 304 codon of pds [8].
• Glucose metabolism in 'Sphingomonas elodea': pathway engineering via construction of a glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase insertion mutant [9].

Biological context of Hydrocharitaceae

• Molecular evolution of herbicide resistance to phytoene desaturase inhibitors in Hydrilla verticillata and its potential use to generate herbicide-resistant crops [10].
• Some of the classic reports during this period are: malate metabolism in Hydrilla, spectrophotometric estimation of chlorophylls, importance of spectral quality for photosynthesis - an indication of two photosystems, photoinactivation of photosynthesis, and importance of flag leaf photosynthesis to grain yield [11].
• Biomass, productivity and density of the seagrass Thalassia testudinum at three sites in Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica [12].

Associations of Hydrocharitaceae with chemical compounds

• The S. elodea ATCC 31461 UgpG protein, encoded by the ugpG gene which maps outside the gel cluster, was previously identified as the UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase involved in the formation of UDP-glucose, also required for gellan synthesis [1].
• Comparative rates of absorption of copper, lead, cadmium, nickel, tin, and inorganic and methylmercury ions from water by Elodea densa were measured [13].
• No significant disappearance and phytotransformation of crufomate occurred in elodea over 14 days, whereas 17-24% degraded in the other plants over the same incubation period [14].
• Herbicide isoproturon-specific binding in the freshwater macrophyte Elodea densa--a single-cell fluorescence study [15].
• The root growth of the macrophyte species Elodea canadensis and Myriophyllum spicatum decreased following exposure to the lowest concentration of metsulfuron methyl tested [16].

Gene context of Hydrocharitaceae

• We conclude that Elodea densa contains no calpain nor calpastatin at the level of 4 micrograms per g plant protein (1 part per 250,000), which was the sensitivity of our assay [17].
• Peak larval densities occurred in the late wet season period in both habitat types (March to May) but Hydrilla generally supported higher densities, particularly of An. annulipes s.l. (43.7% of the total sample), than the shoreline habitats [18].

References