Bus, a bushy Arabidopsis CYP79F1 knockout mutant with abolished synthesis of short-chain aliphatic glucosinolates

A new mutant of Arabidopsis designated bus1-1 (for bushy), which exhibited a bushy phenotype with crinkled leaves and retarded vascularization, was characterized. The phenotype was caused by an En-1 insertion in the gene CYP79F1. The deduced protein belongs to the cytochrome P450 superfamily. Because members of the CYP79 subfamily are believed to catalyze the oxidation of amino acids to aldoximes, the initial step in glucosinolate biosynthesis, we analyzed the level of glucosinolates in a CYP79F1 null mutant (bus1-1f) and in an overexpressing plant. Short-chain glucosinolates derived from methionine were completely lacking in the null mutant and showed increased levels in the overexpressing plant, indicating that CYP79F1 uses short-chain methionine derivatives as substrates. In addition, the concentrations of indole-3-ylmethyl-glucosinolate and the content of the auxin indole-3-acetic acid and its precursor indole-3-acetonitrile were increased in the bus1-1f mutant. Our results demonstrate for the first time that the formation of glucosinolates derived from methionine is mediated by CYP79F1 and that knocking out this cytochrome P450 has profound effects on plant growth and development.     

Cytochrome p450 CYP79F1 from arabidopsis catalyzes the conversion of dihomomethionine and trihomomethionine to the corresponding aldoximes in the biosynthesis of aliphatic glucosinolates

Glucosinolates are natural plant products that have received rising attention due to their role in interactions between pests and crop plants and as chemical protectors against cancer. Glucosinolates are derived from amino acids and have aldoximes as intermediates. We report that cytochrome P450 CYP79F1 catalyzes aldoxime formation in the biosynthesis of aliphatic glucosinolates in Arabidopsis thaliana. Using recombinant CYP79F1 functionally expressed in Escherichia coli, we show that both dihomomethionine and trihomomethionine are metabolized by CYP79F1 resulting in the formation of 5-methylthiopentanaldoxime and 6-methylthiohexanaldoxime, respectively. 5-methylthiopentanaldoxime is the precursor of the major glucosinolates in leaves of A. thaliana, i.e. 4-methylthiobutylglucosinolate and 4-methylsulfinylbutylglucosinolate, and a variety of other glucosinolates in Brassica sp. Transgenic A. thaliana with cosuppression of CYP79F1 have a reduced content of aliphatic glucosinolates and a highly increased level of dihomomethionine and trihomomethionine. The transgenic plants have a morphological phenotype showing loss of apical dominance and formation of multiple axillary shoots. Our data provide the first evidence that a cytochrome P450 catalyzes the N-hydroxylation of chain-elongated methionine homologues to the corresponding aldoximes in the biosynthesis of aliphatic glucosinolates.     

The Arabidopsis ref2 mutant is defective in the gene encoding CYP83A1 and shows both phenylpropanoid and glucosinolate phenotypes

The Arabidopsis ref2 mutant was identified in a screen for plants having altered fluorescence under UV light. Characterization of the ref2 mutants showed that they contained reduced levels of a number of phenylpropanoid pathway-derived products: sinapoylmalate in leaves, sinapoylcholine in seeds, and syringyl lignin in stems. Surprisingly, positional cloning of the REF2 locus revealed that it encodes CYP83A1, a cytochrome P450 sharing a high degree of similarity to CYP83B1, an enzyme involved in glucosinolate biosynthesis. Upon further investigation, ref2 mutants were found to have reduced levels of all aliphatic glucosinolates and increased levels of indole-derived glucosinolates in their leaves. These results show that CYP83A1 is involved in the biosynthesis of both short-chain and long-chain aliphatic glucosinolates and suggest a novel metabolic link between glucosinolate biosynthesis, a secondary biosynthetic pathway found only in plants in the order Capparales, and phenylpropanoid metabolism, a pathway found in all plants and considered essential to the survival of terrestrial plant species.     

Metabolic engineering of aliphatic glucosinolates in Chinese cabbage plants expressing Arabidopsis MAM1, CYP79F1, and CYP83A1

Three Arabidopsis cDNAs, MAM1, CYP79F1, and CYP83A1, required for aliphatic glucosinolate biosynthesis were introduced into Chinese cabbage by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. The transgenic lines overexpressing MAM1 or CYP83A1 showed wild-type phenotypes. However, all the lines overexpressing CYP79F1 displayed phenotypes different from wild type with respect to the stem thickness as well as leaf width and shape. Glucosinolate contents of the transgenic plants were compared with those of wild type. In the MAM1 line M1-1, accumulation of aliphatic glucosinolates gluconapin and glucobrassicanapin significantly increased. In the CYP83A1 line A1-1, all the aliphatic glucosinolate levels were increased, and the levels of gluconapin and glucobrassicanapin were elevated by 4.5 and 2 fold, respectively. The three CYP79F1 transgenic lines exhibited dissimilar glucosinolate profiles. The F1-1 line accumulated higher levels of gluconapoleiferin, glucobrassicin, and 4-methoxy glucobrassicin. However, F1-2 and F1-3 lines demonstrated a decrease in the levels of gluconapin and glucobrassicanapin and an increased level of 4-hydroxy glucobrassicin.     

Functional analysis of the tandem-duplicated P450 genes SPS/BUS/CYP79F1 and CYP79F2 in glucosinolate biosynthesis and plant development by Ds transposition-generated double mutants

A significant fraction (approximately 17%) of Arabidopsis genes are members of tandemly repeated families and pose a particular challenge for functional studies. We have used the Ac-Ds transposition system to generate single- and double-knockout mutants of two tandemly duplicated cytochrome P450 genes, SPS/BUS/CYP79F1 and CYP79F2. We have previously described the Arabidopsis supershoot mutants in CYP79F1 that exhibit massive overproliferation of shoots. Here we use a cytokinin-responsive reporter ARR5::uidA and an auxin-responsive reporter DR5::uidA in the sps/cyp79F1 mutant to show that increased levels of cytokinin, but not auxin, correlate well with the expression pattern of the SPS/CYP79F1 gene, supporting the involvement of this gene in cytokinin homeostasis. Further, we isolated Ds gene trap insertions in the CYP79F2 gene, and find these mutants to be defective mainly in the root system, consistent with a root-specific expression pattern. Finally, we generated double mutants in CYP79F1 and CYP79F2 using secondary transpositions, and demonstrate that the phenotypes are additive. Previous biochemical studies have suggested partially redundant functions for SPS/CYP79F1 and CYP79F2 in aliphatic glucosinolate synthesis. Our analysis shows that aliphatic glucosinolate biosynthesis is completely abolished in the double-knockout plants, providing genetic proof for the proposed biochemical functions of these genes. This study also provides further demonstration of how gluconisolate biosynthesis, regarded as secondary metabolism, is intricately linked with hormone homeostatis and hence with plant growth and development.     

CYP83A1 and CYP83B1, two nonredundant cytochrome P450 enzymes metabolizing oximes in the biosynthesis of glucosinolates in Arabidopsis

In the glucosinolate pathway, the postoxime enzymes have been proposed to have low specificity for the side chain and high specificity for the functional group. Here, we provide biochemical evidence for the functional role of the two cytochromes P450, CYP83A1 and CYP83B1, from Arabidopsis in oxime metabolism in the biosynthesis of glucosinolates. In a detailed analysis of the substrate specificities of the recombinant enzymes heterologously expressed in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), we show that aliphatic oximes derived from chain-elongated homologs of methionine are efficiently metabolized by CYP83A1, whereas CYP83B1 metabolizes these substrates with very low efficiency. Aromatic oximes derived from phenylalanine, tryptophan, and tyrosine are metabolized by both enzymes, although CYP83B1 has higher affinity for these substrates than CYP83A1, particularly in the case of indole-3-acetaldoxime, where there is a 50-fold difference in K(m) value. The data show that CYP83A1 and CYP83B1 are nonredundant enzymes under physiologically normal conditions in the plant. The ability of CYP83A1 to metabolize aromatic oximes, albeit at small levels, explains the presence of indole glucosinolates at various levels in different developmental stages of the CYP83B1 knockout mutant, rnt1-1. Plants overexpressing CYP83B1 contain elevated levels of aliphatic glucosinolates derived from methionine homologs, whereas the level of indole glucosinolates is almost constant in the overexpressing lines. Together with the previous characterization of the members of the CYP79 family involved in oxime production, this work provides a framework for metabolic engineering of glucosinolates and for further dissection of the glucosinolate pathway.     

Metabolic engineering of valine- and isoleucine-derived glucosinolates in Arabidopsis expressing CYP79D2 from Cassava

Glucosinolates are amino acid-derived natural products that, upon hydrolysis, typically release isothiocyanates with a wide range of biological activities. Glucosinolates play a role in plant defense as attractants and deterrents against herbivores and pathogens. A key step in glucosinolate biosynthesis is the conversion of amino acids to the corresponding aldoximes, which is catalyzed by cytochromes P450 belonging to the CYP79 family. Expression of CYP79D2 from cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz.) in Arabidopsis resulted in the production of valine (Val)- and isoleucine-derived glucosinolates not normally found in this ecotype. The transgenic lines showed no morphological phenotype, and the level of endogenous glucosinolates was not affected. The novel glucosinolates were shown to constitute up to 35% of the total glucosinolate content in mature rosette leaves and up to 48% in old leaves. Furthermore, at increased concentrations of these glucosinolates, the proportion of Val-derived glucosinolates decreased. As the isothiocyanates produced from the Val- and isoleucine-derived glucosinolates are volatile, metabolically engineered plants producing these glucosinolates have acquired novel properties with great potential for improvement of resistance to herbivorous insects and for biofumigation.     

Modulation of CYP79 genes and glucosinolate profiles in Arabidopsis by defense signaling pathways

Glucosinolates are natural plant products that function in the defense toward herbivores and pathogens. Plant defense is regulated by multiple signal transduction pathways in which salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid, and ethylene function as signaling molecules. Glucosinolate content was analyzed in Arabidopsis wild-type plants in response to single or combinatorial treatments with methyljasmonate (MeJA), 2,6-dichloro-isonicotinic acid, ethylene, and 2,4-dichloro-phenoxyacetic acid, or by wounding. In addition, several signal transduction mutants and the SA-depleted transgenic NahG line were analyzed. In parallel, expression of glucosinolate biosynthetic genes of the CYP79 gene family and the UDPG:thiohydroximate glucosyltransferase was monitored. After MeJA treatment, the amount of indole glucosinolates increased 3- to 4-fold, and the corresponding Trp-metabolizing genes CYP79B2 and CYP79B3 were both highly induced. Specifically, the indole glucosinolate N-methoxy-indol-3-ylmethylglucosinolate accumulated 10-fold in response to MeJA treatment, whereas 4-methoxy-indol-3-ylmethylglucosinolate accumulated 1.5-fold in response to 2,6-dichloro-isonicotinic acid. In general, few changes were seen for the levels of aliphatic glucosinolates, although increases in the levels of 8-methylthiooctyl glucosinolate and 8-methylsulfinyloctyl glucosinolate were observed, particularly after MeJA treatments. The findings were supported by the composition of glucosinolates in the coronatine-insensitive mutant coi1, the ctr1 mutant displaying constitutive triple response, and the SA-overproducing mpk4 and cpr1 mutants. The present data indicate that different indole glucosinolate methoxylating enzymes are induced by the jasmonate and the SA signal transduction pathways, whereas the aliphatic glucosinolates appear to be primarily genetically and not environmentally controlled. Thus, different defense pathways activate subsets of biosynthetic enzymes, leading to the accumulation of specific glucosinolates.     

Metabolic engineering of p-hydroxybenzylglucosinolate in Arabidopsis by expression of the cyanogenic CYP79A1 from Sorghum bicolor

Glucosinolates are natural products in cruciferous plants, including Arabidopsis thaliana. CYP79A1 is the cytochrome P450 catalysing the conversion of tyrosine to p-hydroxyphenylacetaldoxime in the biosynthesis of the cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin in sorghum. Both glucosinolates and cyanogenic glucosides have oximes as intermediates. Expression of CYP79A1 in A. thaliana results in the production of high levels of the tyrosine-derived glucosinolate p-hydroxybenzylglucosinolate, which is not a natural constituent of A. thaliana. This provides further evidence that the enzymes have low substrate specificity with respect to the side chain. The ability of the cyanogenic CYP79A1 to integrate itself into the glucosinolate pathway has important implications for an evolutionary relationship between cyanogenic glucosides and glucosinolates, and for the possibility of genetic engineering of novel glucosinolates.     

Cytochrome P450 CYP79B2 from Arabidopsis catalyzes the conversion of tryptophan to indole-3-acetaldoxime, a precursor of indole glucosinolates and indole-3-acetic acid

Glucosinolates are natural plant products known as flavor compounds, cancer-preventing agents, and biopesticides. We report cloning and characterization of the cytochrome P450 CYP79B2 from Arabidopsis. Heterologous expression of CYP79B2 in Escherichia coli shows that CYP79B2 catalyzes the conversion of tryptophan to indole-3-acetaldoxime. Recombinant CYP79B2 has a K(m) of 21 microm and a V(max) of 7.78 nmol/h/ml culture. Inhibitor studies show that CYP79B2 is different from a previously described enzyme activity that converts tryptophan to indole-3-acetaldoxime (Ludwig-Müller, J. , and Hilgenberg, W. (1990) Phytochemistry, 29, 1397-1400). CYP79B2 is wound-inducible and expressed in leaves, stem, flowers, and roots, with the highest expression in roots. Arabidopsis overexpressing CYP79B2 has increased levels of indole glucosinolates, which strongly indicates that CYP79B2 is involved in indole glucosinolate biosynthesis. Our data show that oxime production by CYP79s is not restricted to those amino acids that are precursors for cyanogenic glucosides. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that indole glucosinolates have evolved from cyanogenesis. Indole-3-acetaldoxime is a precursor of the plant hormone indole-3-acetic acid, which suggests that CYP79B2 might function in biosynthesis of indole-3-acetic acid. Identification of CYP79B2 provides an important tool for modification of the indole glucosinolate content to improve nutritional value and pest resistance.     

甘蓝型油菜BnCYP79B1基因的克隆与表达

硫苷是十字花科植物的一种次生代谢产物,其合成途径受细胞色素P450的CYP79家族蛋白的调控,该实验采用同源克隆技术在甘蓝型油菜中克隆到了CYP79B1基因,命名为BnCYP79B1(GenBank登录号为JX535391.1)。BnCYP79B1基因cDNA全长1 625bp,编码一个含有541个氨基酸、理论等电点为8.88。序列对比结果显示,BnCYP79B1与花椰菜CYP79B1在DNA序列上的相似性为98.83%,推测蛋白氨基酸序列的相似性为99.26%。通过不同时期不同部位BnCYP79B1基因表达量的分析,发现BnCYP79B1基因在高秆高硫苷品系的根中表达量较高,而对矮秆高硫苷品系则是叶中表达量较高。在BnCYP79B1表达总量上,高秆品系较矮秆品系高,高硫苷品系较低硫苷品系高。     

Cytochrome P450 CYP79A2 from Arabidopsis thaliana L. Catalyzes the conversion of L-phenylalanine to phenylacetaldoxime in the biosynthesis of benzylglucosinolate

Glucosinolates are natural plant products gaining increasing interest as cancer-preventing agents and crop protectants. Similar to cyanogenic glucosides, glucosinolates are derived from amino acids and have aldoximes as intermediates. We report cloning and characterization of cytochrome P450 CYP79A2 involved in aldoxime formation in the glucosinolate-producing Arabidopsis thaliana L. The CYP79A2 cDNA was cloned by polymerase chain reaction, and CYP79A2 was functionally expressed in Escherichia coli. Characterization of the recombinant protein shows that CYP79A2 is an N-hydroxylase converting L-phenylalanine into phenylacetaldoxime, the precursor of benzylglucosinolate. Transgenic A. thaliana constitutively expressing CYP79A2 accumulate high levels of benzylglucosinolate. CYP79A2 expressed in E. coli has a K(m) of 6.7 micromol liter(-1) for L-phenylalanine. Neither L-tyrosine, L-tryptophan, L-methionine, nor DL-homophenylalanine are metabolized by CYP79A2, indicating that the enzyme has a narrow substrate specificity. CYP79A2 is the first enzyme shown to catalyze the conversion of an amino acid to the aldoxime in the biosynthesis of glucosinolates. Our data provide the first conclusive evidence that evolutionarily conserved cytochromes P450 catalyze this step common for the biosynthetic pathways of glucosinolates and cyanogenic glucosides. This strongly indicates that the biosynthesis of glucosinolates has evolved based on a cyanogenic predisposition.     

CYP79B1 from Sinapis alba converts tryptophan to indole-3-acetaldoxime

The cytochrome P450 CYP79B1 from Sinapis alba has been heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli and shown to catalyze the conversion of tryptophan to indole-3-acetaldoxime. Three expression constructs were made, one expressing the native protein and two expressing proteins with different N-terminal modifications. The native construct gave the highest yield as estimated by enzymatic activity per liter of culture. Spheroplasts of E. coli expressing CYP79B1 were reconstituted with the Arabidopsis thaliana NADPH:cytochrome P450 reductase ATR1 heterologously expressed in E. coli to obtain enzymatic activity. This indicates that the E. coli electron-donating system, flavodoxin/flavodoxin reductase, does not support CYP79B1 activity. Recombinant CYP79B1 has a K(m) for tryptophan of 29+/-2 microM and a V(max) of 36.5+/-0.7nmolh(-1)(mlculture)(-1). The identity at the amino acid level of CYP79B1 is, respectively, 93 and 84% to CYP79B2 and CYP79B3 from A. thaliana, and 96% to CYP79B5 (Accession No. AF453287) from Brassica napus. The CYP79B subfamily of cytochromes P450 is likely to constitute a group of orthologous genes in the biosynthesis of indole glucosinolates.     

Metabolic engineering of indole glucosinolates in Chinese cabbage plants by expression of Arabidopsis CYP79B2, CYP79B3, and CYP83B1

Indole glucosinolates (IG) play important roles in plant defense, plant-insect interactions, and stress responses in plants. In an attempt to metabolically engineer the IG pathway flux in Chinese cabbage, three important Arabidopsis cDNAs, CYP79B2, CYP79B3, and CYP83B1, were introduced into Chinese cabbage by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Overexpression of CYP79B3 or CYP83B1 did not affect IG accumulation levels, and overexpression of CYP79B2 or CYP79B3 prevented the transformed callus from being regenerated, displaying the phenotype of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) overproduction. However, when CYP83B1 was overexpressed together with CYP79B2 and/or CYP79B3, the transformed calli were regenerated into whole plants that accumulated higher levels of glucobrassicin, 4-hydroxy glucobrassicin, and 4-methoxy glu-cobrassicin than wild-type controls. This result suggests that the flux in Chinese cabbage is predominantly channeled into IAA biosynthesis so that coordinate expression of the two consecutive enzymes is needed to divert the flux into IG biosynthesis. With regard to IG accumulation, overexpression of all three cDNAs was no better than overexpression of the two cDNAs. The content of neoglucobrassicin remained unchanged in all transgenic plants. Although glucobrassicin was most directly affected by overexpression of the transgenes, elevated levels of the parent IG, glucobrassicin, were not always accompanied by increases in 4-hydroxy and 4-methoxy glucobrassicin. However, one transgenic line producing about 8-fold increased glucobrassicin also accumulated at least 2.5 fold more 4-hydroxy and 4-methoxy glucobrassicin. This implies that a large glucobrassicin pool exceeding some threshold level drives the flux into the side chain modification pathway. Aliphatic glucosinolate content was not affected in any of the transgenic plants.     

植物激素与芥子油苷在生物合成上的相互作用

植物激素在植物的生长发育中起着关键性作用,芥子油苷是一类重要的次生代谢物质。植物激素与芥子油苷之间存在复杂的相互作用。生长素与吲哚类芥子油苷在生物合成上存在着相互作用。植物防卫信号分子与芥子油苷之间也存在相互作用,茉莉酸强烈诱导吲哚类芥子油苷生物合成相关基因CYP7982和CYP7983的表达,从而诱导吲哚-3-甲基芥子油苷和N-甲氧吲哚-3-甲基芥子油苷等吲哚类芥子油苷的生成,水杨酸和乙烯则能轻度诱导4-甲氧吲哚-3-甲基芥子油苷的生成。植物防卫信号转导途径相互作用以精细调节不同种类吲哚类芥子油苷的生成。