title: Genes involved in the endoplasmic reticulum N-glycosylation pathway of the red microalga Porphyridium sp.: a bioinformatic study.
abstract: N-glycosylation is one of the most important post-translational modifications that influence protein polymorphism, including protein structures and their functions. Although this important biological process has been extensively studied in mammals, only limited knowledge exists regarding glycosylation in algae. The current research is focused on the red microalga Porphyridium sp., which is a potentially valuable source for various applications, such as skin therapy, food, and pharmaceuticals. The enzymes involved in the biosynthesis and processing of N-glycans remain undefined in this species, and the mechanism(s) of their genetic regulation is completely unknown. In this study, we describe our pioneering attempt to understand the endoplasmic reticulum N-Glycosylation pathway in Porphyridium sp., using a bioinformatic approach. Homology searches, based on sequence similarities with genes encoding proteins involved in the ER N-glycosylation pathway (including their conserved parts) were conducted using the TBLASTN function on the algae DNA scaffold contigs database. This approach led to the identification of 24 encoded-genes implicated with the ER N-glycosylation pathway in Porphyridium sp. Homologs were found for almost all known N-glycosylation protein sequences in the ER pathway of Porphyridium sp.; thus, suggesting that the ER-pathway is conserved; as it is in other organisms (animals, plants, yeasts, etc.).
authors: Department of Biotechnology, Rager Ave., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel. oshrale@sce.ac.il.
authors: Oshrat
authors: O
authors: Levy-Ontman
authors: Department of Biotechnology, Rager Ave., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel. meravfish@gmail.com.
authors: Merav
authors: M
authors: Fisher
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Sami Shamoon College of Engineering, Basel/Bialik sts., Beer-Sheva 8410001, Israel. yshotlan@sce.ac.il.
authors: Yoram
authors: Y
authors: Shotland
authors: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rager Ave., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel. yacob@bgu.ac.il.
authors: Yacob
authors: Y
authors: Weinstein
authors: Department of Biotechnology, Rager Ave., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel. yoram.tekoah@protalix.com.
authors: Yoram
authors: Y
authors: Tekoah
authors: Department of Biotechnology, Rager Ave., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel. arad@bgu.ac.il.
authors: Shoshana Malis
authors: SM
authors: Arad
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000378:metabolism*; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006031:Glycosylation; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways; D010802:Phylogeny; D044665:Porphyridium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D006023:Glycoproteins