Nicotinamide nucleotides (NAD and NADP) are important cofactors in many metabolic processes in living organisms. In this study, we analyzed transgenic Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) plants that overexpress NAD kinase2 (NADK2), an enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of NADP from NAD in chloroplasts, to investigate the impacts of altering NADP level on plant metabolism. Metabolite profiling revealed that NADP(H) concentrations were proportional to NADK activity in NADK2 overexpressors and in the nadk2 mutant. Several metabolites associated with the Calvin cycle were also higher in the overexpressors, accompanied by an increase in overall Rubisco activity. Furthermore, enhanced NADP(H) production due to NADK2 overexpression increased nitrogen assimilation. Glutamine and glutamate concentrations, as well as some other amino acids, were higher in the overexpressors. These results indicate that overexpression of NADK2 either directly or indirectly stimulates carbon and nitrogen assimilation in Arabidopsis under restricted conditions. Importantly, since neither upregulation nor down-regulation of NADK2 activity affected the sum amount of NAD and NADP or the redox state, the absolute level of NADP and/or the NADP/NAD ratio likely plays a key role in regulating plant metabolism.

Bax inhibitor-1 (BI-1) is a cell death suppression factor widely conserved in higher plants and animals. Overexpression of Arabidopsis BI-1 (AtBI-1) in plants confers tolerance to various cell death-inducible stresses. However, apart from the cell death-suppressing activity, little is known about the physiological roles of BI-1-overexpressing plants. In this study, we evaluated the effects of AtBI-1 overexpression on the rice metabolome in response to oxidative stress. AtBI-1-overexpressing rice cells in suspension displayed enhanced tolerance to menadione-induced oxidative stress compared with vector control cells, whereas AtBI-1 overexpression did not influence the increase of intracellular H(2)O(2) concentration or inhibition of oxidative stress-sensitive aconitase activity. Capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS)-based metabolome analysis revealed dynamic metabolic changes in oxidatively stressed rice cells, e.g. depletion of the central metabolic pathway, imbalance of the redox state and energy charge, and accumulation of amino acids. Furthermore, comparative metabolome analysis demonstrated that AtBI-1 overexpression did not affect primary metabolism in rice cells under normal growth conditions but significantly altered metabolite composition within several distinct pathways under cell death-inducible oxidative stress. The AtBI-1-mediated metabolic alteration included recovery of the redox state and energy charge, which are known as important factors for metabolic defense against oxidative stress. These observations suggest that although AtBI-1 does not affect rice metabolism directly, its cell death suppression activity leads to enhanced capacity to acclimate oxidative stress.

Comprehensive analysis of metabolites using capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry was carried out in harmful weeds belonging to Polygonaceae. A principal component analysis revealed clear distinctions among eight Rumex species and Fallopia japonica. Hierarchical clustering data showed that respective metabolites can be grouped due to species differences. There was a positive relationship between oxalate and citrate, oxalate and ascorbate, and oxalate and glutamine. The amount of oxalate per leaf fresh weight was not affected by increased concentrations of exogenously supplied nutrients from Hoagland's formulation in one of the most destructive weeds R. obtusifolius. The oxalate accumulation in this plant is independent of external nutrient level, where nutrient-rich environments apparently stimulate internal constituents such as amino acids and other metabolites.

An electrochemically formed polyazulene(PAz), one of the electroconductive polycyclic hydrocarbons, was studied for its electrochemical properties in order to examine the possibility of utilizing it as a cathode active material of rechargeable lithium battery. The electrode kinetics of PAz film electrode, especially the anion doping-undoping process, were investigated mainly with cyclic voltammetry and FFT impedance method. The cyclic voltammetric results of PAz film showed a highly reversible redox process. Cole-Cole plots for PAz electrode obtained by impedance measurement as a function of doping potential were also found to offer an indication that PAz can be an excellent battery material. The charging-discharging property, and the cyclability of a Li/LiC]O4-PC(propylene carbonate)/PAz battery were then studied as a function of the film thickness of PAz cathode. The charging-discharging behavior of Li/LiC104-PC/PAz was also compared with those of Li/LiC104-PC/polypyrrole and Li/LiC104-PC/polyaniline batteries, which had been examined earlier.When compared with Li/LiC104-PC/polypyrrole or Li/LiClO4-PC/polyaniline batteries, a Li/LiC1OJPAz battery showed fairly high and constant discharge voltage (ca. 3.2V), while keeping 100% of coulombic yield. Inspection by SEM showed that the surface condition of PAz film greatly resembled that of polypyrrole, however, a 10 C cm 2 PAz film was prepared with thicker than polypyrrole formed with the same amount of charge of 10 C cm -2.