In vitro cultivated plant cells and tissues were found to synthesize polyisoprenoids. Taxus baccata suspension cell cultures accumulated polyisoprenoids of the same pattern as the parental tissue; methyl jasmonate or chitosan treatment almost doubled their content. All the root cultures studied accumulated dolichols as predominant polyisoprenoids. Roots of Ocimum sanctum grown in vitro accumula...

In vitro cultivated plant cells and tissues were found to synthesize polyisoprenoids. Taxus baccata suspension cell cultures accumulated polyisoprenoids of the same pattern as the parental tissue; methyl jasmonate or chitosan treatment almost doubled their content. All the root cultures studied accumulated dolichols as predominant polyisoprenoids. Roots of Ocimum sanctum grown in vitro accumula...

Direct analysis of polyisoprenoids by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) often produces poor results requiring off-line time and sample-consuming derivatization techniques. We describe a simple ESI-MS approach for the direct analysis of polyisoprenoids using several dolichols and polyprenols with different chain sizes as proof-of-principle cases. Lithium iodide is used to promot...

The antiulcer effect of a series of synthetic acyclic polyisoprenoids on cold-restraint stress induced ulcer in female rats was determined, and the relationship between their antiulcer effect and chemical structure was also investigated. As a result, the following findings were obtained: The antiulcer effect of acyclic polyisoprenoids closely correlated with the number of intramolecular isopren...

In this study, a method of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with carbon dioxide of polyisoprenoids from plant photosynthetic tissues is described. SFE was an effective extraction method for short- and medium-chain compounds with even higher yield than that observed for the "classical extraction" method with organic solvents. Moreover, SFE-derived extracts contained lower amounts of impuriti...

The polyisoprenoid alcohols (dolichols and polyprenols) are found in all living organism, from bacteria to mammals. In animal and yeast cells polyisoprenoids are derived from the cytoplasmic mevalonate (MVA) pathway while in plants two biosynthetic pathways, the MVA and the plastidial methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway provide precursors for polyisoprenoid biosynthesis. The key enzymes of...

The prenylation of proteins utilizes the polyisoprenyl pyrophosphates (FPP) and geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP) as prenyl donors. These polyisoprenoids are also precursors to ubiquinone and dolichol synthesis. We have previously described the geranylgeranylation of rab 1b from labeled mevalonate in rabbit reticulocyte lysates (Khosravi-Far, R., Lutz, R. J., Cox, A. D., Conroy, L., Bourne, J...

Sugars are recognized as signaling molecules regulating the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in plants. Here, a modulatory effect of sugars on dolichol and phytosterol profiles was noted in the hairy roots of Arabidopsis thaliana. Arabidopsis roots contain a complex dolichol mixture comprising three groups ('families') of dolichols differing in the chain-length. These dolichols, especially...