TY - JOUR AU - Gutiérrez-García, Laura AU - Arró, Montserrat AU - Altabella, Teresa AU - Ferrer, Albert AU - Boronat, Albert PY - 2021 DA - 2021/03/17 TI - Structural and functional analysis of tomato sterol C22 desaturase JO - BMC Plant Biology SP - 141 VL - 21 IS - 1 AB - Sterols are structural and functional components of eukaryotic cell membranes. Plants produce a complex mixture of sterols, among which β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol, and cholesterol in some Solanaceae, are the most abundant species. Many reports have shown that the stigmasterol to β-sitosterol ratio changes during plant development and in response to stresses, suggesting that it may play a role in the regulation of these processes. In tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), changes in the stigmasterol to β-sitosterol ratio correlate with the induction of the only gene encoding sterol C22-desaturase (C22DES), the enzyme specifically involved in the conversion of β-sitosterol to stigmasterol. However, despite the biological interest of this enzyme, there is still a lack of knowledge about several relevant aspects related to its structure and function. SN - 1471-2229 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-021-02898-7 DO - 10.1186/s12870-021-02898-7 ID - Gutiérrez-García2021 ER -