Challenge in life Flashcards
The world is in big trouble
- From a geological time perspective, CO2 levels are far too low and the earth is far too cold.
- For much of plant evolutionary history, atmospheric CO2 levels were above 1000 ppmand not limiting for growth of most plants
- CO2 concentrating mechanisms in plants evolved within the last 65 million years in response to decreasing levels of atmospheric CO2
- Currently, atmospheric CO2 levels are in the midst of a rapid and dramatic increasing, starting with the industrial revolution
Impact of increase in C02 pressure
- The direct impact of increasing atmospheric [CO2] will be on plants, through changes in rainfall patterns, temperature, and distributions and interactions with beneficial and harmful organisms
- Plants grow better at higher [CO2], although often show decreases in proteins and nutrient level
Problem with photosynthesis at high temperature
Two competing reactions, Carboxylation and Oxygenation
• Oxygenation (Photorespiration) product has to be recycled, which is energy-dependent and releases CO2.
C4 photosynthesis
- evolved more than 60 times, mainly in hot, dry regions
- C4 photosynthesis is advantageous in dry, hot and sunny regions
Pathway of c4 plant
- Atmospheric CO2 enters mesophyll cells and is converted to bicarbonate. PEPC carboxylates PEP to produce OAA, a four-carbon compound
- OAA (or a derivative) is transported to a bundle sheath cell and decarboxylated, releasing CO2 at Rubisco, which initiates the Calvin-Benson cycle. A three-carbon compound returns to the mesophyll cell.
C3 vs C4
- C3 plants have an advantage at cool temperature (the additional carboxylation steps of C4 require energy)
- Because photorespiration increases with temperature, C4 plants have an advantage higher temperatures
- Because carbon-fixation in C4 plants is not carbon-limited, they are able to take advantage of high light intensities
C4 phylogeny
There are ~8000 species of C4 plants, clustered into ~61 unique lineages
27 monocot lineages represent ~6000 species
~34 dicot lineages represent ~1700 species
enzymes required for C4
All enzymes required for C4 pathway are in C3 plants
This means two things: 1. It has been relatively easy for plants to acquire the capability for C4 photosynthesis from the ancestral C3 state
2. It could be feasible to engineer features of C4 photosynthesis in C3 crop plants like rice and soybean
C4 Requires a change in plant leaf
• Changes in leaf anatomy (higher ratio of bundle sheath to mesophyll cells)
• Functional differentiation between bundle sheath to mesophyll cells, changes in gene expression
• Changes in plastid function and position
-Two compartments, separate but close enough for metabolite exchange
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM)
- CO2 uptake at night (less water is lost through open stomata at night)
- HCO3- is fixed by PEPC
- CO2 is stored as C4 acids in the vacuole
- Daytime decarboxylation releases CO2
- Rubisco fixes CO2 during the day, even though stomata are closed
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) vs. C4 metabolism
- C4 provides benefits under high temperature, high light & high water availability
- CAM provides benefits under high temperature and low water availability
Many plants have “facultative CAM” properties
-Plant can ultilise CAM when there is a drought
Transgenic manipulations in response to [CO2]
- Modifications to Rubisco or other enzymes used in CO2 fixation
- Engineering CAM to improve water-use efficiency
- Strategies to improve C4 photosynthesis
- Producing different enzymes with enhanced properties
- The C4 rice project
- Convert a C3 plant to a C4 plant
Turbocharging rice: the C4 rice project
• Started in 2008.
• Seven institutions involved.
• Two step process: change both biochemistry and plant anatomy through genetic engineering.
• Creating a line with five enzymes altered took six years
. • Also have to manipulate expression of transporters.
• May not be able to develop the Kranz cell types (but that may not matter).
pathogen
A pathogen is “a disease-causing microorganism”
disease
disease is “any condition in which the normal structure or function of the body is damaged or impaired
evolution of immunesystem
Immune systems are evolutionary ancient, and become increasingly complex over evolutionary time
Phase of immune respond
• An immune response has three broad phases
- Recognition phase—organism must discriminate between self and non-self
- Activation phase—mobilization of cells and molecules to fight the invader
- Effector phase—mobilized cells and molecules destroy the invader
Components of the (mammalian) immune system
- In multicellular animals, the immune system functions through a variety of specialised cells
- Nonspecific “Innate” immune response • acts as a first line of defence against pathogen/agent
- lacks immunological memory (?)
- Specific “Adaptive” immune response
- resistance to a particular foreign agent
- has “memory”; effectiveness increases on repeated exposure to agent
- Cells with similar functions exist in other organisms
Step 1: Recognising pathogens
• All immune responses begin with the recognition of foreign agents/pathogens by specialized receptors present in cells
• These are known as PRRs: Pattern Recognition Receptors
There are 4 of them
-CLR
-NLR
-TLR
-RLR
CLR
C-leptin receptor
- transmembrane receptor found in the plasma membrane
• Recognise fungal and bacterial glycans (sugars)
NLR
NOD-like receptors:
• Cytoplasmic receptors
• Different subfamilies recognise different foreign molecules from viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi
TLR
Toll-like receptor
transmembrane receptor found in either the plasma membrane or the endosome
• Different TLRs recognise different molecules
• Toll-Like Receptors are found in both vertebrate and invertebrates
• Different TLRs recognise different PAMPs (?); mammals have at least 10 TLRs
RLR
Retinoic-acid-inducible gene 1-like receptors:
• Cytoplasmic sensors of viral RNA
• Trigger antiviral responses
MAMPs
Microbial-Associated Molecular Patterns (molecule that doesnt orriginate from our body)
So what patterns, exactly, are they recognising
• MAMPs: Microbial-Associated Molecular Patterns
-Pathogen
• Carbohydrate, polypeptide, and nucleic acid molecules expressed by viruses, bacteria, and parasites:
• DAMPs: Damage-Associated Molecular Patterns
• Signals of damage to an endogenous cell by a pathogen
• Can include: Membrane damage Molecules released by stressed, dead or dying cells Signals of tissue damage • MAMP in wrong place or MAMP+DAMP = PAMP
• PAMP: Pathogen-Associated Molecular Patterns
• Sensing of PAMPs by cells of the immune system (through their PRRs) sets off the next stage of the immune response
Step 2: Activation of the immune response
• PAMP sensing by PRRs leads to:
1. Secretion of defensins or other antimicrobial peptides
2. Production of pro-inflammatory cytokines 3. Activation of the complement system
4. Phagocytosis
• All of these responses are non-specific and part of the innate immune response
5. Targeted responses to specific threats by the adaptive immune response… but this takes days or weeks
Defensins
- Secretion of defensins, a type of antimicrobial peptide is an ancient form of defense
- Small, positively charged polypeptides (< 100 AA)
- Bacteria secrete “bacteriocins” which have equivalent roles
- Defensins disrupt the structural integrity of pathogen membranes and (some) viral envelopes
Phagocytosis: disposing of pathogens
- Once pathogens have been disrupted or identified, they must be removed from the cell
- Phagocytosis: The process in which a cell encloses large particles in a phagocytic vacuole (phagosome) and engulfs them.
after phagocytosis
• Two main consequences to phagocytosis: 1. Activation of a pro-inflammatory response, to recruit additional immune cells to the site of injury/threat
2. Activation of the adaptive immune system by antigen presentation to T and B cells
Antigen presentation by phagocytes links the innate and adaptive immune response
- Microbes are broken down by phagocytosis
- the phagocyte carry microbial peptide to lymph nodes
- This cause the activation of specific t-cell
B cells and T cells are the main players of the adaptive response
- Each B and T cell clone recognises different antigens
- An antigen is simply “a molecule that can induce an adaptive immune response or that can bind to an antibody or T cell receptor.”
- At any time, many different B and T cell clones circulate through the body, but low cell numbers of each clone
Type of t-cell
Produced in the thymur
• Each B and T cell clone recognises different antigens
• An antigen is simply “a molecule that can induce an adaptive immune response or that can bind to an antibody or T cell receptor.”
• At any time, many different B and T cell clones circulate through the body, but low cell numbers of each clone