Molecular model of thylakoid membrane bound (SlAPX6) ascorbate peroxidase from Solanum lycopersicum

Ascorbate peroxidase (E 1.11.1.11) acts as primary key component of plant defense against photo protection and photo-oxidative stress. Chloroplastic (APX) located in the thylakoid membrane (tAPX) and stroma (sAPX) have been thought to be key regulators of intracellular levels of H2O2. Therefore, it is of interest to study thylakoid membrane bound SlAPX from Solanum lycopersicum (tomato, a fleshy fruit). However, a structure model is not yet solved for tomato thylakoid membrane bound SlAPX. Hence, a homology molecular model of SlAPX6 from S. lycopersicum was constructed using a template structure (PDB ID: 1APX) from Pisum sativum. The model was further assessed using accessible surface area (ASA) calculations to identify surface residues for further characterization of active site regions. We further characterized the active site regions in the enzyme for functional inference. This information provides insights for the understanding of photo protection and photo-oxidative stress tolerant in S. lycopersicum during flower development and fruit ripening.