title: The pentose catabolic pathway of the rice-blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae involves a novel pentose reductase restricted to few fungal species.
abstract: A gene (MoPRD1), related to xylose reductases, was identified in Magnaporthe oryzae. Recombinant MoPRD1 displays its highest specific reductase activity toward L-arabinose and D-xylose. Km and Vmax values using L-arabinose and D-xylose are similar. MoPRD1 was highly overexpressed 2-8h after transfer of mycelium to D-xylose or L-arabinose, compared to D-glucose. Therefore, we conclude that MoPDR1 is a novel pentose reductase, which combines the activities and expression patterns of fungal L-arabinose and D-xylose reductases. Phylogenetic analysis shows that PRD1 defines a novel family of pentose reductases related to fungal D-xylose reductases, but distinct from fungal L-arabinose reductases. The presence of PRD1, L-arabinose and D-xylose reductases encoding genes in a given species is variable and likely related to their life style.
authors.affiliation: CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Klaubauf
authors.forename: Cecile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ribot
authors.forename: Delphine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Melayah
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lagorce
authors.forename: Marc-Henri
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lebrun
authors.forename: Ronald P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: de Vries
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D020082:Magnaporthe / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010429:Pentoses / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D010429:Pentoses; D010088:Oxidoreductases