Disease relevance of Castor Bean

• The regulatory functions of the 5'-flanking regions of two genes for catalase (cat1 and cat2) from castor bean were analyzed in transgenic tobacco plants that carried fusion constructs that included the gene for beta-glucuronidase (GUS) for Escherichia coli [1].
• Ricin, at toxic glycoprotein from the castor bean, causes myocardial hemorrhage and a decrease in blood pressure [2].
• The H and L forms of phosphofructokinase 2/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase were also detected in crude homogenates of castor bean endosperm and of Jerusalem artichoke tubers [3].

High impact information on Castor Bean

• Immunocytochemical localization of a vacuolar processing enzyme, a 37-kD cysteine proteinase, in the endosperm of maturing castor bean seeds places the enzyme in the vacuolar matrix, where a variety of proproteins is also present [4].
• Acidification of isolated ricinosomes causes castor bean cysteine endopeptidase activation, with cleavage of the N-terminal propeptide and the C-terminal KDEL motif [5].
• Thus, C. palaestina PDAT preferentially incorporates vernoloyl groups into TAG, whereas PDAT from castor bean incorporates both ricinoleoyl and vernoloyl groups [6].
• Programmed cell death in castor bean endosperm is associated with the accumulation and release of a cysteine endopeptidase from ricinosomes [7].
• A near-full-length casbene synthase cDNA clone, pCS7, was isolated by using a partial cDNA clone, pCS4, to probe a lambda gt10 library constructed from poly(A)+ RNA from elicited castor bean seedlings [8].

Biological context of Castor Bean

• Affinity columns prepared by reductive amination of lactose, melibiose, maltose, and di-N-acetylchitobiose were used to purify the following lectins: lactose, peanut, castor bean; melibiose, Bandeiraea simplicifolia; maltose, jack bean, common lentil; di-N-acetylchitobiose, wheat germ [9].
• The amino acid sequences of alpha-VPE and beta-VPE were also 55% and 67% identical to that of castor bean VPE, respectively [10].
• Nucleotide sequence analysis of a cDNA clone encoding malate synthase of castor bean (Ricinus communis) reveals homology to DAL7, a gene involved in allantoin degradation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae [11].
• Pretreatment of intact castor bean endosperm tissue with tunicamycin partially inhibits the cotranslational core glycosylation step and results in the accumulation of a single sized unglycosylated precursor polypeptide of relative molecular mass 59 000 [12].
• Its identity to the ORFs of spearmint limonene synthase, tobacco 5-epi-aristolochene synthase, and castor bean casbene synthase were 65, 35, and 30%, respectively [13].

Anatomical context of Castor Bean

• A plant cysteine endopeptidase with a molecular mass of 35 kD was purified from microbodies of germinating castor bean (Ricinus communis) endosperm by virtue of its capacity to specifically process the glyoxysomal malate dehydrogenase precursor protein to the mature subunit in vitro [14].
• Pyruvate metabolism in castor-bean mitochondria [15].
• Increasing concentrations of CDP-choline progressively inhibit the measured incorporation of CDP-[2-14C]ethanolamine into phosphatidylethanolamine catalysed by the ethanolaminephosphotransferase present in endoplasmic-reticulum membranes isolated from castor-bean endosperm cells [16].
• The targeting of castor bean isocitrate lyase to peroxisomes was studied by expression in the heterologous host Saccharomyces cerevisae from which the endogenous ICL1 gene had been removed by gene disruption [17].
• To understand the mechanism of the maturation of various proteins in protein-storage vacuoles, we purified a 48-kDa aspartic endopeptidase composed of 32-kDa and 16-kDa subunits from castor bean [18].

Associations of Castor Bean with chemical compounds

• Radiolabeled isocitrate lyase (a glyoxysomal matrix protein) was produced by in vitro transcription of the castor bean cDNA and translation of the RNA in a wheat germ lysate [19].
• Phosphatidylethanolamine synthesis by castor bean endosperm. Intracellular distribution and characteristics of CTP:ethanolaminephosphate cytidylyltransferase [20].
• Sequence comparisons with a sesquiterpene cyclase, epi-aristolochene synthase from tobacco, and a diterpene cyclase, casbene synthase from castor bean, demonstrated a significant degree of similarity between these three terpenoid cyclase types, the first three examples of this large family of catalysts to be described from higher plants [21].
• Variation in the oxygen isotope ratio of phloem sap sucrose from castor bean. Evidence in support of the Péclet effect [22].
• A cDNA encoding the oleate 12-hydroxylase from castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) has previously been shown to direct the synthesis of small amounts of ricinoleic acid (12-hydroxyoctadec-cis-9-enoic acid) in seeds of transgenic tobacco plants [23].

Gene context of Castor Bean

• Human castor bean allergy and HLA-A, B, C, DR [24].
• These results suggest that expression of two tightly linked catalase genes of castor bean, cat1 and cat2, are differentially regulated during development [25].
• The primary structure of the castor bean PLD exhibits no significant similarities with sequences of other cloned lipolytic enzymes [26].
• The capacity of the castor bean proteins to bind human IgE was probed with sera from castor bean-sensitive patients and radiolabeled anti-IgE [27].
• Allergy to castor bean. I. Its relationship to sensitization to common inhalant allergens (atopy) [28].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Castor Bean

• The antigens extracted from walls by the hot formamide method, were purified by affinity chromatography on columns containing the galactose-specific lectin from the castor bean and were found to be diheteroglycans consisting of galactose and glucose [29].
• Specific IgE against castor bean was detected by enzyme allergosorbent test, and proteins with mol. mass of less than 14.4 kDa and masses of 15.5, 29.5, and 30.5 kDa were identified as allergens by Western blot analysis [30].
• Cell fractionation analysis of 6-day-old castor bean cotyledons by sucrose density gradient centrifugation demonstrated that 13% of nsLTP was distributed in the glyoxysomal fraction, identified on the basis of catalase as a marker, and 87% in the soluble fraction near the top of the gradient [31].
• Sera from 26 seed-positive atopics, when analyzed for ELISA against seed and pollen extracts of castor bean, showed binding with both seed and pollen extracts, but binding was stronger with seed extracts as compared to pollen [32].
• Specific IgE against whole castor-bean extract and ricin, ricinus agglutinin and dericinated extracts of castor bean were found in the patients' sera using radioallergosorbent tests (RAST) [33].

References