Academia Sinica said yesterday that researchers have detailed the structure of an enzyme involved in the production of the scent given off by the mint plant, adding that the research was published in the US journal The Plant Cell on Feb. 5.
In an effort to better understand the process by which the mint plant produces its scent, Academia Sinica vice president Andrew Wang (王惠均) and his team from the Institute of Biological Chemistry (IBC) used x-ray crystallography, as well as biochemical and genetic studies, to map the structure of an enzyme that catalyzes the first critical step in the biosynthesis pathway of the mint scent formation.
MEDICINAL VALUE?
The volatiles that evaporate from plants to produce scent are very important in nature to attract pollinators and herbivorous predators and emit signals that ward off pathogens. They are also of interest to humans as medicines, but very little is known about them.
The group discovered that the enzyme is composed of two proteins — a catalytic protein and a regulatory protein. Through protein-protein interactions, the regulatory protein can remodel the active-site cavity of the catalytic protein for synthesizing the precursor of menthol, which is released from the plant as mint scent.
The research was conducted and financed by Academia Sinica and the protein crystallography synchrotron facility was supported by the National Genomic Medicine Research Program, a project funded by the National Science Council.
ONLINE
The article, titled “Structure of a Heterotetrameric Geranyl Pyrophosphate Synthase from Mint (Mentha piperita) Reveals Intersubunit Regulation” is available on The Plant Cell Web site at www.plantcell.org/cgi/content/abstract/tpc.109.071738v1.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
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