The fungus Ustilago maydis represents one of the major threats to maize plants since it is responsible for corn smut disease, which generates considerable economical losses around world. Therefore, contributing a better understanding biochemistry defense mechanisms used by U. protect itself against harsh environments, such as synthesis melanin, could provide improved biological tools tackling p...

The antimalarial agent fosmidomycin is a validated inhibitor of the nonmevalonate isoprenoid biosynthesis (methylerythritol 4-phosphate [MEP]) pathway in the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. Since multiple classes of prenyltransferase inhibitors kill P. falciparum, we hypothesized that protein prenylation was one of the essential functions of this pathway. We found that MEP pathway inhi...

Objective(s):Isoprenoid biosynthesis is a key metabolic pathway to produce a wide variety of biomolecules such as cholesterol and carotenoids, which target cell membranes. On the other hand, it has been reported that statins known as inhibitors of isoprenoid biosynthesis and cholesterol lowering agents, may have a direct antimicrobial effect on the some bacteria. The exact action of statins in ...

background and objectives: food contamination by aflatoxins is an important food safety concern for agricultural products. in order to identify and develop novel antifungal agents, several plant extracts and isolated compounds have been evaluated for their bioactivities. anti-infectious activity of piper betle used in traditional medicine of malaysia has been reported previously. materials and ...

5-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA), the committed intermediate of the heme biosynthesis pathway, shows significant promise for cancer treatment. Here, we identified that in addition to hemA and hemL, hemB, hemD, hemF, hemG and hemH are also the major regulatory targets of the heme biosynthesis pathway. Interestingly, up-regulation of hemD and hemF benefited ALA accumulation whereas overexpression of h...

Brassinosteroids play diverse roles in plant growth and development. Plants deficient in brassinosteroid (BR) biosynthesis or defective in signal transduction show many abnormal developmental phenotypes, indicating the importance of both BR biosynthesis and the signaling pathway in regulating these biological processes. Recently, using genetics, proteomics, genomics, cell biology, and many othe...