title: Molybdenum metabolism in the alga Chlamydomonas stands at the crossroad of those in Arabidopsis and humans.
abstract: Molybdenum (Mo) is a very scarce element whose function is fundamental in living beings within the active site of Mo-oxidoreductases, playing key roles in the metabolism of N, S, purines, hormone biosynthesis, transformation of drugs and xenobiotics, etc. In eukaryotes, each step from Mo acquisition until its incorporation into a biologically active molybdenum cofactor (Moco) together with the assembly of this Moco in Mo-enzymes is almost understood. The deficiency in function of a particular molybdoenzyme can be critical for the survival of the organism dependent on the pathway involved. However, incapacity in forming a functional Moco has a pleiotropic effect in the different processes involving this cofactor. A detailed overview of Mo metabolism: (a) specific transporters for molybdate, (b) the universal biosynthesis pathway for Moco from GTP, (c) Moco-carrier and Moco-binding proteins for Moco transfer and (d) Mo-enzymes, is analyzed in light of recent findings and three systems are compared, the unicellular microalga Chlamydomonas, the plant Arabidopsis and humans.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, Edif. Severo Ochoa, 14071 Córdoba, Spain. bb1feree@uco.es
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Llamas
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tejada-Jiménez
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: Aurora
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galván
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002696:Chlamydomonas / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003067:Coenzymes / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008667:Metalloproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008982:Molybdenum / Q000378:metabolism*; D000090006:Molybdenum Cofactors; D010802:Phylogeny; D011621:Pteridines / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D003067:Coenzymes; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D008667:Metalloproteins; D008982:Molybdenum; D000090006:Molybdenum Cofactors; D011621:Pteridines; C044659:molybdate; C022261:molybdopterin