Christine L. Willis

Bio: Christine L. Willis is an academic researcher from University of Bristol. The author has contributed to research in topics: Polyketide & Enantioselective synthesis. The author has an hindex of 37, co-authored 224 publications receiving 3922 citations. Previous affiliations of Christine L. Willis include Oregon State University & University of Montana.

Internode length in Pisum

Abstract: The influence of the Na and Le genes in peas on gibberellin (GA) levels and metabolism were examined by gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis of extracts from a range of stem-length genotypes fed with [13C, 3H]GA20. The substrate was metabolised to [13C, 3H]GA1, [13C, 3H]GA8 and [13C, 3H]GA29 in the immature, expanding apical tissue of all genotypes carrying Le. In contrast, [13C, 3H]GA29 and, in one line, [13C, 3H]GA29-catabolite, were the only products detected in plants homozygous for the le gene. These results confirm that the Le gene in peas controls the 3β-hydroxylation of GA20 to GA1. Qualitatively the same results were obtained irrespective of the genotype at the Na locus. In all Na lines the [13C, 3H]GA20 metabolites were considerably diluted by endogenous [12C]GAs, implying that the metabolism of [13C, 3H]GA20 mirrored that of endogenous [12C]GA20. In contrast, the [13C, 3H]GA20 metabolites in na lines showed no dilution with [12C]GAs, confirming that the na mutation prevents the production of C19-GAs. Estimates of the levels of endogenous GAs in the apical tissues of Na lines, made from the 12C:13C isotope ratios and the radioactivity recovered in respective metabolites, varied between 7 and 40 ng of each GA per plant in the tissue expanded during the 5 d between treatment with [13C, 3H]GA20 and extraction. No [12C]GA1 and only traces of [12C]GA8 (in one line) were detected in the two Na le lines examined. These results are discussed in relation to recent observations on dwarfism in rice and maize.

Resistance to and synthesis of the antibiotic mupirocin

Abstract: Mupirocin, a polyketide antibiotic produced by Pseudomonas fluorescens, is used to control the carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on skin and in nasal passages as well as for various skin infections. Low-level resistance to the antibiotic arises by mutation of the mupirocin target, isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase, whereas high-level resistance is due to the presence of an isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase with many similarities to eukaryotic enzymes. Mupirocin biosynthesis is carried out by a combination of type I multifunctional polyketide synthases and tailoring enzymes encoded in a 75 kb gene cluster. Chemical synthesis has also been achieved. This knowledge should allow the synthesis of new and modified antibiotics for the future.

The Catalytic Mechanism of a Natural Diels–Alderase Revealed in Molecular Detail

Abstract: The Diels-Alder reaction, a [4 + 2] cycloaddition of a conjugated diene to a dienophile, is one of the most powerful reactions in synthetic chemistry. Biocatalysts capable of unlocking new and efficient Diels-Alder reactions would have major impact. Here we present a molecular-level description of the reaction mechanism of the spirotetronate cyclase AbyU, an enzyme shown here to be a bona fide natural Diels-Alderase. Using enzyme assays, X-ray crystal structures, and simulations of the reaction in the enzyme, we reveal how linear substrate chains are contorted within the AbyU active site to facilitate a transannular pericyclic reaction. This study provides compelling evidence for the existence of a natural enzyme evolved to catalyze a Diels-Alder reaction and shows how catalysis is achieved.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

Fluorine in pharmaceutical industry: fluorine-containing drugs introduced to the market in the last decade (2001-2011).

Abstract: Introduced to the Market in the Last Decade (2001−2011) Jiang Wang,† María Sańchez-Rosello,́‡,§ Jose ́ Luis Aceña, Carlos del Pozo,‡ Alexander E. Sorochinsky, Santos Fustero,*,‡,§ Vadim A. Soloshonok,* and Hong Liu*,† †Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China ‡Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Valencia, Av. Vicente Andreś Estelleś, 46100 Burjassot, Valencia, Spain Laboratorio de Molećulas Orgańicas, Centro de Investigacioń Príncipe Felipe, C/ Eduardo Primo Yuf́era 3, 46012 Valencia, Spain Department of Organic Chemistry I, Faculty of Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Paseo Manuel Lardizab́al 3, 20018 San Sebastian, Spain IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, Alameda Urquijo, 36-5 Plaza Bizkaia, 48011 Bilbao, Spain Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry and Petrochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Murmanska Street 1, 02660 Kyiv-94, Ukraine