schematic of protein interaction pathways (IMAGE)

DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory

schematic of protein interaction pathways

Caption

This diagram shows the two pathways KIN10 and an adjacent protein, GRIK1, follow in the low- and high-sugar conditions. Low sugar allows the addition of a phosphate (P) to KIN10, which triggers a phosphorylation cascade that leads to the breakdown of enzymes involved in oil synthesis. This includes degradation of WRI1, the master-switch for oil synthesis. When sugar is abundant, however, a sugar-proxy molecule (T6P) binds to the KIN10 loop to block its interaction with GRIK1. That keeps the oil synthesis pathway open.

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Brookhaven National Laboratory

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