Proteolytic activities and profiles as useful traits to select barley cultivars for beer production.

Barley malting depends on hydrolytic enzymes that degrade storage macromolecules. Identifying barley cultivars with proteolytic activity that guarantees appropriate foaming, flavor, and aroma in the beer is of great importance. In this work, the proteolytic activity and profiles of brewing malt from Mexican barley cultivars were analyzed. Data showed that Cys- (at 50°C) and Ser-proteases (at 70°C) are the major contributors to proteolytic activity during mashing. Essential amino acids, necessary for fermentation and production of good flavor and aroma in beer, were detected at the end of mashing. According to our results, Mexican cultivar HV2005-19 exhibits similar proteolytic activities as those from cultivar Metcalfe, which is one of the most utilized for the brewing industry. Moreover, we propose Cys- and Ser-proteases as biochemical markers during mashing at 50 and 70°C, respectively, to select barley cultivars for beer production. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Proteolytic activity, which depends on activation and de novo synthesis of proteases in the aleurone layer of barley seeds, is crucial in beer production. Identifying new barley varieties that have optimal proteolytic activities is of great interest for genetic improvement programs. In this study, we propose the variety HV2005-19 as a genotype with Cys- and Ser-proteases activity similar to that from Metcalfe, which is a top variety in the brewing industry.

Histone variant H2A.Z regulates zygotic genome activation.

During embryogenesis, the genome shifts from transcriptionally quiescent to extensively active in a process known as Zygotic Genome Activation (ZGA). In Drosophila, the pioneer factor Zelda is known to be essential for the progression of development; still, it regulates the activation of only a small subset of genes at ZGA. However, thousands of genes do not require Zelda, suggesting that other mechanisms exist. By conducting GRO-seq, HiC and ChIP-seq in Drosophila embryos, we demonstrate that up to 65% of zygotically activated genes are enriched for the histone variant H2A.Z. H2A.Z enrichment precedes ZGA and RNA Polymerase II loading onto chromatin. In vivo knockdown of maternally contributed Domino, a histone chaperone and ATPase, reduces H2A.Z deposition at transcription start sites, causes global downregulation of housekeeping genes at ZGA, and compromises the establishment of the 3D chromatin structure. We infer that H2A.Z is essential for the de novo establishment of transcriptional programs during ZGA via chromatin reorganization.

Structural, thermodynamic and catalytic characterization of an ancestral triosephosphate isomerase reveal early evolutionary coupling between monomer association and function.

Function, structure, and stability are strongly coupled in obligated oligomers, such as triosephosphate isomerase (TIM). However, little is known about how this coupling evolved. To address this question, five ancestral TIMs (ancTIMs) in the opisthokont lineage were inferred. The encoded proteins were purified and characterized, and spectroscopic and hydrodynamic analysis indicated that all are folded dimers. The catalytic efficiency of ancTIMs is very high and all dissociate into inactive and partially unfolded monomers. The placement of catalytic residues in the three-dimensional structure, as well as the enthalpy-driven binding signature of the oldest ancestor (TIM63) resemble extant TIMs. Although TIM63 dimers dissociate more readily than do extant TIMs, calorimetric data show that the free ancestral subunits are folded to a greater extent than their extant counterparts are, suggesting that full catalytic proficiency was established in the dimer before the stability of the isolated monomer eroded. Notably, the low association energy in ancTIMs is compensated for by a high activation barrier, and by a significant shift in the dimer-monomer equilibrium induced by ligand binding. Our results indicate that before the animal and fungi lineages diverged, TIM was an obligated oligomer with substrate binding properties and catalytic efficiency that resemble that of extant TIMs. Therefore, TIM function and association have been strongly coupled at least for the last third of biological evolution on earth. DATABASES: PDB Entry: 6NEE. ENZYMES: Triosephosphate isomerase 5.3.1.1, Glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 1.1.1.8.