Fungal Genomics & Biology
Open Access
ISSN: 2165-8056
ISSN: 2165-8056
Centro Nacional de Cálculo Científico(CeCalCULA), Universidad de los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela
Dr. Ascanio Rojas is an Associate professor in the Department of Biology, University of the Andes Venezuela, South America. His study interests major on Biology. Currently, Dr. Ascanio Rojas is the author/editors/reviewer in several international journals. He published 10 articles in many journals and the articles are informative and got good citations.
Research Article
Characterization of Glucokinase-1 from Phytophthora infestans: A Versatile Enzyme
Author(s): Liara Villalobos-Piña, Hermes Balza, Héctor Acosta*, Diego Andrade-Alviárez, Ascanio Rojas, Luisana Avilán and Amaranta Gómez-Arreaza
Phytophthora infestans has seven genes coding for glucokinases, with the [PITG_06016] (PiGlcK-1) gene being the highest expression at different stages of growth. However, its role in the metabolism of P. infestans is still unclear. In this study we cloned, overexpressed, purified and biochemically characterized this enzyme. The purified recombinant protein has a Km of 0.66 mM and 2.2 mM for glucose and ATP, respectively. PiGlcK-1 is capable of phosphorylating fructose, although only 48% with respect to glucose, using ADP and pyrophosphate (PPi) as a phosphoryl group donor. These molecules are 50% and 11% less effective than ATP, respectively. In addition, PiGlcK-1 can be activated by PPi increasing its activity 3.6 or 2.5 times when the phosphoryl donor is ATP or ADP, respectively. PiGlcK-1 can form oligomeric complexes and these tend to spontaneously dissoc.. View More»