title: Acyltransferases in plants: a good time to be BAHD.
abstract: Acylation is a common and biochemically significant modification of plant secondary metabolites. Plant BAHD acyltransferases constitute a large family of acyl CoA-utilizing enzymes whose products include small volatile esters, modified anthocyanins, as well as constitutive defense compounds and phytoalexins. The catalytic versatility of BAHD enzymes makes it very difficult to make functional predictions from primary sequence alone. Recent advances in genome sequencing and the availability of the first crystal structure of a BAHD member are, however, providing insights into the evolution and function of these acyltransferases within the plant kingdom.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll Strasse 8, D-07745 Jena, Germany. dauria@ice.mpg.de
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: D'Auria
mesh_terms: D000217:Acyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D010944:Plants / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D000217:Acyltransferases