Seasonal activity of uridine 5'-diphosphoglucose:coniferyl alcohol glucosyltransferase in relation to cambial growth and dormancy in conifers

Uridine 5'-diphosphoglucose:coniferyl alcohol glucosyltransferase (CAGT), the enzyme catalyzing synthesis of coniferin from coniferyl alcohol and uridine 5'-diphosphoglucose, was investigated throughout an annual cycle of cambial growth and dormancy in Pinus banksiana Lamb. During dormancy, CAGT activity was not detected in the cambium. CAGT became weakly active in springtime when fusiform cells of the lateral meristem changed from densely protoplasmic to highly vacuolated states, just prior to resumption of cell-division activity. During cambial growth and xylogenesis, CAGT activity in cambial derivatives was greater than that found in the cambial zone. In both cambial zone and developing xylem, seasonally changing CAGT activity paralleled seasonal variation in endogenous coniferin content. CAGT activity disappeared when the cambium entered dormancy in August, prior to completion of lignification in the last differentiating latewood tracheids. In vitro, exogenous coniferin at 0.1 mmol ·L-1 promoted CAGT activity (optimum pH 7.8, temperature 40°C); however, coniferin at >10 mmol ·L-1 inhibited CAGT activity, in agreement with endogenous coniferin content of developing xylem not exceeding that level. The results indicate that the promoter controlling CAGT gene expression may be cambial specific and linked to the overall control of seasonal cambial growth and dormancy.Key words: cambium, coniferin, lignin, phenology, Pinus banksiana, xylogenesis.