scholarly journals Identification and Allelic Variation of Genes Involved in the Potato Glycoalkaloid Biosynthetic Pathway

Author(s):  
Idit Ginzberg ◽  
Richard E. Veilleux ◽  
James G. Tokuhisa

Steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGAs) are secondary metabolites being part of the plant defense response. The two major SGAs in cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum) are α-chaconine and α-solanine, which exhibit strong cellular lytic properties and inhibit acetylcholinesterase activity, and are poisonous at high concentrations for humans. As SGAs are not destroyed during cooking and frying commercial cultivars have been bred to contain low levels, and their content in tubers should not exceed 20 mg/100 g fresh weight. However, environmental factors can increase tuber SGA content above the safe level. The focus of the proposed research was to apply genomic approaches to identify candidate genes that control potato SGA content in order to develop tools for potato improvement by marker-assisted selection and/or transgenic approaches. To this end, the objectives of the proposal included identification of genes, metabolic intermediates and allelic variations in the potato SGAbiosynthetic pathway.   The SGAs are biosynthesized by the sterol branch of the mevalonic acid/isoprenoid pathway. Transgenic potato plants that overexpress 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase 1 (HMG1) or squalene synthase 1 (SQS1), key enzymes of the mevalonic acid/isoprenoid pathway, exhibited elevated levels of solanine and chaconine as well as induced expression of genes downstream the pathway. These results suggest of coordinated regulation of isoprenoid (primary) metabolism and SGA secondary metabolism. The transgenic plants were further used to identify new SGA-related candidate genes by cDNA-AFLP approach and a novel glycosyltransferase was isolated. In addition, genes involved in phytosterol biosynthesis may have dual role and synthesize defense-related steroidal metabolites, such as SGAs, via lanosterol pathway. Potato lanosterol synthase sequence (LAS) was isolated and used to prepare transgenic plants with overexpressing and silencing constructs. Plants are currently being analyzed for SGA content.   The dynamics of SGA accumulation in the various organs of a potato species with high SGA content gave insights into the general regulation of SGA abundance. Leaf SGA levels in S. chacoense were 10 to 20-fold greater than those of S. tuberosum. The leptines, SGAs with strong antifeedant properties against Colorado potato beetles, were present in all aerial tissues except for early and mid-developmental stages of above ground stolons, and accounted for the high SGA content of S. chacoense. These results indicate the presence of regulatory mechanisms in most tissues except in stolons that limit the levels of α-solanine and α-chaconine and confine leptine accumulation to the aerial tissues.   The genomes of cultivated and wild potato contain a 4-member gene family coding for SQS. Three orthologs were cloned as cDNAs from S. chacoense and heterologously expressed in E. coli. Squalene accumulated in all E. coli lines transformed with each of the three gene constructs. Differential transcript abundance in various organs and amino acid sequence differences in the conserved domains of three isoenzymes indicate subfunctionalization of SQS activity and triterpene/sterol metabolism.   Because S. chacoense and S. phureja differ so greatly for presence and accumulation of SGAs, we selected four candidate genes from different points along the biosynthetic pathway to determine if chcor phuspecific alleles were associated with SGA expression in a segregating interspecific diploid population. For two of the four genes (HMG2 and SGT2) F2 plants with chcalleles expressed significantly greater total SGAs compared with heterozygotes and those with phualleles. Although there are other determinants of SGA biosynthesis and composition in potato, the ability of allelic states at two genes to affect SGA levels confirms some of the above transgenic work where chcalleles at two other loci altered SGA expression in Desiree.   Present results reveal new opportunities to manipulate triterpene/sterol biosynthesis in more targeted ways with the objective of altering SGA content for both human health concerns and natural pesticide content without disrupting the essential metabolism and function of the phytosterol component of the membranes and the growth regulating brassinosteroids.

BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadhana Singh ◽  
Himabindu Kudapa ◽  
Vanika Garg ◽  
Rajeev K. Varshney

Abstract Background Chickpea, pigeonpea, and groundnut are the primary legume crops of semi-arid tropics (SAT) and their global productivity is severely affected by drought stress. The plant-specific NAC (NAM - no apical meristem, ATAF - Arabidopsis transcription activation factor, and CUC - cup-shaped cotyledon) transcription factor family is known to be involved in majority of abiotic stresses, especially in the drought stress tolerance mechanism. Despite the knowledge available regarding NAC function, not much information is available on NAC genes in SAT legume crops. Results In this study, genome-wide NAC proteins – 72, 96, and 166 have been identified from the genomes of chickpea, pigeonpea, and groundnut, respectively, and later grouped into 10 clusters in chickpea and pigeonpea, while 12 clusters in groundnut. Phylogeny with well-known stress-responsive NACs in Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa (rice), Medicago truncatula, and Glycine max (soybean) enabled prediction of putative stress-responsive NACs in chickpea (22), pigeonpea (31), and groundnut (33). Transcriptome data revealed putative stress-responsive NACs at various developmental stages that showed differential expression patterns in the different tissues studied. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to validate the expression patterns of selected stress-responsive, Ca_NAC (Cicer arietinum - 14), Cc_NAC (Cajanus cajan - 15), and Ah_NAC (Arachis hypogaea - 14) genes using drought-stressed and well-watered root tissues from two contrasting drought-responsive genotypes of each of the three legumes. Based on expression analysis, Ca_06899, Ca_18090, Ca_22941, Ca_04337, Ca_04069, Ca_04233, Ca_12660, Ca_16379, Ca_16946, and Ca_21186; Cc_26125, Cc_43030, Cc_43785, Cc_43786, Cc_22429, and Cc_22430; Ah_ann1.G1V3KR.2, Ah_ann1.MI72XM.2, Ah_ann1.V0X4SV.1, Ah_ann1.FU1JML.2, and Ah_ann1.8AKD3R.1 were identified as potential drought stress-responsive candidate genes. Conclusion As NAC genes are known to play role in several physiological and biological activities, a more comprehensive study on genome-wide identification and expression analyses of the NAC proteins have been carried out in chickpea, pigeonpea and groundnut. We have identified a total of 21 potential drought-responsive NAC genes in these legumes. These genes displayed correlation between gene expression, transcriptional regulation, and better tolerance against drought. The identified candidate genes, after validation, may serve as a useful resource for molecular breeding for drought tolerance in the SAT legume crops.


2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (18) ◽  
pp. 5391-5397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Si Jae Park ◽  
Sang Yup Lee

ABSTRACT The biosynthetic pathway of medium-chain-length (MCL) polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) from fatty acids has been established in fadB mutant Escherichia coli strain by expressing the MCL-PHA synthase gene. However, the enzymes that are responsible for the generation of (R)-3-hydroxyacyl coenzyme A (R3HA-CoAs), the substrates for PHA synthase, have not been thoroughly elucidated. Escherichia coli MaoC, which is homologous to Pseudomonas aeruginosa (R)-specific enoyl-CoA hydratase (PhaJ1), was identified and found to be important for PHA biosynthesis in a fadB mutant E. coli strain. When the MCL-PHA synthase gene was introduced, the fadB maoC double-mutant E. coli WB108, which is a derivative of E. coli W3110, accumulated 43% less amount of MCL-PHA from fatty acid compared with the fadB mutant E. coli WB101. The PHA biosynthetic capacity could be restored by plasmid-based expression of the maoCEc gene in E. coli WB108. Also, E. coli W3110 possessing fully functional β-oxidation pathway could produce MCL-PHA from fatty acid by the coexpression of the maoCEc gene and the MCL-PHA synthase gene. For the enzymatic analysis, MaoC fused with His6-Tag at its C-terminal was expressed in E. coli and purified. Enzymatic analysis of tagged MaoC showed that MaoC has enoyl-CoA hydratase activity toward crotonyl-CoA. These results suggest that MaoC is a new enoyl-CoA hydratase involved in supplying (R)-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA from the β-oxidation pathway to PHA biosynthetic pathway in the fadB mutant E. coli strain.


Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (17) ◽  
pp. 3795-3809 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Acampora ◽  
G.R. Merlo ◽  
L. Paleari ◽  
B. Zerega ◽  
M.P. Postiglione ◽  
...  

The Dlx5 gene encodes a Distal-less-related DNA-binding homeobox protein first expressed during early embryonic development in anterior regions of the mouse embryo. In later developmental stages, it appears in the branchial arches, the otic and olfactory placodes and their derivatives, in restricted brain regions, in all extending appendages and in all developing bones. We have created a null allele of the mouse Dlx5 gene by replacing exons I and II with the E. coli lacZ gene. Heterozygous mice appear normal. Beta-galactosidase activity in Dlx5+/− embryos and newborn animals reproduces the known pattern of expression of the gene. Homozygous mutants die shortly after birth with a swollen abdomen. They present a complex phenotype characterised by craniofacial abnormalities affecting derivatives of the first four branchial arches, severe malformations of the vestibular organ, a delayed ossification of the roof of the skull and abnormal osteogenesis. No obvious defect was observed in the patterning of limbs and other appendages. The defects observed in Dlx5−/− mutant animals suggest multiple and independent roles of this gene in the patterning of the branchial arches, in the morphogenesis of the vestibular organ and in osteoblast differentiation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 476 (21) ◽  
pp. 3125-3139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Shiu-Hin Chan ◽  
Jeannine Hess ◽  
Elen Shaw ◽  
Christina Spry ◽  
Robert Starley ◽  
...  

Abstract CoaBC, part of the vital coenzyme A biosynthetic pathway in bacteria, has recently been validated as a promising antimicrobial target. In this work, we employed native ion mobility–mass spectrometry to gain structural insights into the phosphopantothenoylcysteine synthetase domain of E. coli CoaBC. Moreover, native mass spectrometry was validated as a screening tool to identify novel inhibitors of this enzyme, highlighting the utility and versatility of this technique both for structural biology and for drug discovery.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunxin Liu ◽  
Xin Qiao ◽  
Qionghou Li ◽  
Weiwei Zeng ◽  
Shuwei Wei ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The BAHD acyltransferase superfamily exhibits various biological roles in plants, including regulating fruit quality, catalytic synthesizing of terpene, phenolics and esters, and improving stress resistance. However, the copy numbers, expression characteristics and associations with fruit aroma formation of the BAHD genes remain unclear. Results: In total, 717 BAHD genes were obtained from the genomes of seven Rosaceae , ( Pyrus bretschneideri , Malus domestica , Prunus avium , Prunus persica , Fragaria vesca , Pyrus communis and Rubus occidentalis ). Based on the detailed phylogenetic analysis and classifications in model plants, we divided the BAHD family genes into seven groups, I-a, I-b, II-a, II-b, III-a, IV and V. An inter-species synteny analysis revealed the ancient origin of BAHD superfamily with 78 syntenic gene pairs were detected among the seven Rosaceae species. Different types of gene duplication events jointly drive the expansion of BAHD superfamily, and purifying selection dominates the evolution of BAHD genes supported by the small Ka/Ks ratios . Based on the correlation analysis between the ester content and expression levels of BAHD genes at different developmental stages, four candidate genes were selected for verification as assessed by qRT-PCR. The result implied that Pbr020016.1 , Pbr019034.1 , Pbr014028.1 and Pbr029551.1 are important candidate genes involved in aroma formation during pear fruit development. Conclusion: We have thoroughly identified the BAHD superfamily genes and performed a comprehensive comparative analysis of their phylogenetic relationships, expansion patterns, and expression characteristics in seven Rosaceae species, and we also obtained four candidate genes involved in aroma synthesis in pear fruit . These results provide a theoretical basis for future studies of the specific biological functions of BAHD superfamily members and the improvement of pear fruit quality. Keywords : BAHD, pear, evolution, Rosaceae, transcriptome, volatile esters


Microbiology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 152 (8) ◽  
pp. 2233-2245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren M. Junker ◽  
Joseph E. Peters ◽  
Anthony G. Hay

Escherichia coli strain PHL628 was subjected to saturating Tn5 transposon mutagenesis and then grown under competitive planktonic or biofilm conditions. The locations of transposon insertions from the remaining cells were then mapped on a gene array. The results from the array mapping indicated that 4.5 % of the E. coli genome was important under these conditions. Specifically, 114 genes were identified as important for the biofilm lifestyle, whereas 80 genes were important for the planktonic lifestyle. Four broad functional categories were identified as biofilm-important. These included genes encoding cell structures, small-molecule transport, energy metabolism and regulatory functions. For one of these genes, arcA, an insertion mutant was generated and its biofilm-related phenotype was examined. Results from both the transposon array and insertion mutagenesis indicated that arcA, which is known to be a negative response regulator of genes in aerobic pathways, was important for competitiveness in E. coli PHL628 biofilms. This work also demonstrated that ligation-mediated PCR, coupled with array-based transposon mapping, was an effective tool for identifying a large variety of candidate genes that are important for biofilm fitness.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryo Yoshida ◽  
Hisashi Hemmi

Abstract Archaea produce unique membrane lipids, which possess two fully saturated isoprenoid chains linked to the glycerol moiety via ether bonds. The isoprenoid chain length of archaeal membrane lipids is believed to be important for some archaea to thrive in extreme environments because the hyperthermophilic archaeon Aeropyrum pernix and some halophilic archaea synthesize extended C25,C25-archaeal diether-type membrane lipids, which have isoprenoid chains that are longer than those of typical C20,C20-diether lipids. Natural archaeal diether lipids possessing longer C30 or C35 isoprenoid chains, however, have yet to be isolated. In the present study, we attempted to synthesize such hyperextended archaeal membrane lipids. We investigated the substrate preference of the enzyme sn-2,3-(digeranylfarnesyl)glycerol-1-phosphate synthase from A. pernix, which catalyzes the transfer of the second C25 isoprenoid chain to the glycerol moiety in the biosynthetic pathway of C25,C25-archaeal membrane lipids. The enzyme was shown to accept sn-3-hexaprenylglycerol-1-phosphate, which has a C30 isoprenoid chain, as a prenyl acceptor substrate to synthesize sn-2-geranylfarnesyl-3-hexaprenylglycerol-1-phosphate, a supposed precursor for hyperextended C25,C30-archaeal membrane lipids. Furthermore, we constructed an artificial biosynthetic pathway by introducing 4 archaeal genes and 1 gene from Bacillus subtilis in the cells of Escherichia coli, which enabled the E. coli strain to produce hyperextended C25,C30-archaeal membrane lipids, which have never been reported so far.


Genes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1024
Author(s):  
Yan Hong ◽  
Mengling Li ◽  
Silan Dai

The generation of chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum × morifolium) flower color is mainly attributed to the accumulation of anthocyanins. Light is one of the key environmental factors that affect the anthocyanin biosynthesis, but the deep molecular mechanism remains elusive. In our previous study, a series of light-induced structural and regulatory genes involved in the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway in the chrysanthemum were identified using RNA sequencing. In the present study, differentially expressed proteins that are in response to light with the capitulum development of the chrysanthemum ‘Purple Reagan’ were further identified using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) technique, and correlation between the proteomic and the transcriptomic libraries was analyzed. In general, 5106 raw proteins were assembled based on six proteomic libraries (three capitulum developmental stages × two light treatments). As many as 160 proteins were differentially expressed between the light and the dark libraries with 45 upregulated and 115 downregulated proteins in response to shading. Comparative analysis between the pathway enrichment and the gene expression patterns indicated that most of the proteins involved in the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway were downregulated after shading, which was consistent with the expression patterns of corresponding encoding genes; while five light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-binding proteins were initially downregulated after shading, and their expressions were enhanced with the capitulum development thereafter. As revealed by correlation analysis between the proteomic and the transcriptomic libraries, GDSL esterase APG might also play an important role in light signal transduction. Finally, a putative mechanism of light-induced anthocyanin biosynthesis in the chrysanthemum was proposed. This study will help us to clearly identify light-induced proteins associated with flower color in the chrysanthemum and to enrich the complex mechanism of anthocyanin biosynthesis for use in cultivar breeding.


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