Aryl propenal double bond reductases (APDBR)
In a previous study (33), we had isolated and characterized allylic double bond reductases in Pinus taeda able to reduce allylic double bonds in various 8–5´ linked lignans. Arabidopsis contains at least 11 of such homologues, these having 52 – 59% similarity to the P. taeda APDBR. As in the other studies, this phase of the study involves (i) cloning of Arabidopsis APDBR genes and characterization of the corresponding recombinant proteins; (ii) identifying temporal and spatial patterns of expression of the eleven APDBR promoters when fused to GUS/GFP reporter genes and (iii) analysis of APDBR gene “knockouts”. Progress is shown Tables 18 – 20.