Castor seed development is a complex process in which the mother plant nutrients are stored in specialized tissues called endosperm of the seed as lipids which continue to nurture the embryo during the process of germination. The chemical principle that is followed by the seed system is the oxidation of reserve lipids to liberate energy rich sugars to achieve metabolic functional diversity until the seedling attains self-generation potential by photosynthesis and is proved scientifically to occur in specialized sub-cellular organelles called glyoxysomes in plant cells.

Researchers have made an experimental study to evaluate the catalytic factors accounting for the oxidation of lipids from the castor seed endosperm isolated glyoxysomes. The experimental design involves incubation of natural substrates with catalytic preparations under in vitro conditions and monitored time based synthesis of corresponding products and the scientists observation in this respect coincided with their hypothesis. Hence it led them to identify and implicate that catalytic enzymes of glyoxysomal origin are acting as key factors driving the synthesis of sugars for seed germination from stored lipids and also with regulation of oxidative stress in plants.

This is an unique experimental study attributing the significance of glyoxysomes to a fundamental physiological process of castor seed germination.

For reference: http://www.jbc.org/content/244/13/3514.short

Gene expression is a phenomenon by which bio-function to be exhibited is emerging from the genetic material of an organism.In this process, bio-systems have developed a property to express them in a regulated way for effective survival,development and energy conservation and regulated gene expression seems to be punched well in higher organisms.People nowadays regularly concentrate on molecular events in diverse biological subjects that are occurring at the cellular level for the differentially expressed biological functions which they witness at the gross morphological level. Progression in plant molecular sciences led to castor seed protein 2s albumin expression as a subject of study today for biologists.2s albumin is an abundant castor seed protein characterized to be potent allergen.

The researchers to address the expression pattern of concerned plant protein made use of different stages of castor seed, developed right after fertilization and exploited a real time expression profiling tool called quantitative polymerase chain reaction.The fingerprint of cDNA transcripts revealed a dynamic pattern in the mode of expression with highest degree of 2s albumin during the middle stages while the presence of it at the initial and maturation phases shows converse levels.The scientists however did not restrict there but proceeded further to generate a profile of active allergen and noticed some degree of relation with transcript.However the allergen contrastingly continued to thrive even after elimination of transcripts which posted an elusive operation of molecular mechanism in castor plant cells for a sustained existence of the allergen,2s albumin as multiple variants.

One thing certain from this study is a correlation between complex intermediary molecular events and phenotypes and hence assists us to better understand and manipulate the traits to our convenience.

For info: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf071272p

Enzyme’ characterization is important for understanding metabolism as their catalytic role and regulation determines the flow of mass and homeostatic control in biological systems. It is particularly pronounced well in case with enzymes associated with basic metabolic pathways which made a Canadian researcher to apply this fact in castor metabolism to study an enzyme called pyruvate kinase and its materialistic regulation by proteolytic enzymes in sub-cellular compartments called leucoplasts.

Proteins are in general regulated from their activities by proteolytic degradation,chemical modification,cell sequestration etc and pyruvate kinase chosen as model system in this scientific study was evaluated for its degradation by protease called cysteine endopeptidase.A crude preparation of protein fraction from castor endosperm over different developmental stages of castor seed was made. Protein profiling data revealed an accelerated degradation of the enzyme in wild preparations but when samples were treated with probe inhibitors specific for endopeptidases,a converse result was noticed, by which the researcher was able to conclude that it is the cysteine endopeptidase, acts as a negative regulator of pyruvate kinase in castor seed development, with temporal regulation in its activity inspite of a consistent synchronous existence with pyruvate kinase at the extra-plastid region.He further reported that a regularity in pyruvate kinase driven functional castor physiology was attributed to enzyme’s presence.

This is an interesting study in this oilseed crop where an entire picture of molecular events pertaining to vital enzymes has been presented and enables us to produce a resolved map in seed maturation and development.However attention is required to profile the associated molecular factors driving this complex phenomenon without generating an exaggerated  interwoven metabolic network to pose difficulties in selection and isolation of members in the cellular tie ups.

For reference: Plant Physiol. (1991) 97, 1334-1338