Wittstock Ute, Burow Meike
Institut für Pharmazeutische Biologie, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany.
IUBMB Life. 2007 Dec;59(12):744-51. doi: 10.1080/15216540701736277.
Glucosinolates are a group of secondary plant metabolites found in the Brassicales order that are beneficial components of our diet, determine the flavor of a number of vegetables and spices and have been implicated in pest management strategies. These properties, most of the biological activities and the pungent odor and taste associated with glucosinolate-containing plants are due to the products formed from glucosinolates by their hydrolytic enzymes, myrosinases, upon tissue disruption. Specifier proteins impact the outcome of glucosinolate hydrolysis without having hydrolytic activity on glucosinolates themselves. In the presence of specifier proteins, glucosinolate hydrolysis results in nitriles, epithionitriles and organic thiocyanates whose biological functions are currently unknown. In contrast, isothiocyanates formed in the absence of specifier proteins have been demonstrated to possess a variety of biological activities and are thought to protect plants from herbivore and pathogen attack. This review discusses the current knowledge on plant and insect specifier proteins with special emphasis on their biochemical properties and possible mechanisms of action.
硫代葡萄糖苷是十字花目植物中发现的一类次生植物代谢产物，是我们日常饮食中的有益成分，决定了许多蔬菜和香料的风味，并且与害虫管理策略有关。这些特性，以及大多数生物活性、与含硫代葡萄糖苷植物相关的刺鼻气味和味道，都归因于硫代葡萄糖苷在组织破坏时被其水解酶——黑芥子酶水解后形成的产物。特异性蛋白会影响硫代葡萄糖苷的水解结果，但它们本身对硫代葡萄糖苷没有水解活性。在特异性蛋白存在的情况下，硫代葡萄糖苷水解会产生腈类、环硫腈类和有机硫氰酸盐，其生物学功能目前尚不清楚。相比之下，在没有特异性蛋白的情况下形成的异硫氰酸酯已被证明具有多种生物活性，并被认为可以保护植物免受食草动物和病原体的攻击。本综述讨论了目前关于植物和昆虫特异性蛋白的知识，特别强调了它们的生化特性和可能的作用机制。
