细胞色素P450基因及其在植物改良中的应用

细胞色素P450是一类含血红素的氧化还原酶类,它参与多种生化反应,在防御生物免受病虫害及逆境胁迫等方面具有重要作用。生物基因组序列分析表明,它是一个基因超家族。许多细胞色素P450基因已被鉴定和克隆,并应用于植物遗传改良;在转基因培育多抗性植物、创造植物雄性不育系,提高植物降解化学农药残留等污染物的能力和有效生产具有药用价值的化合物等方面已取得可喜进展,显示出广阔的应用前景。 Abstract:Cytochrome P450s are heme-containing mixed-function oxidases,involving in lots of biochemical reactions.They play an important role in preventing plants from pathogen and insect attacks and environmental stress.Sequence analysis of genomes has revealed that P450 is a gene super-family.Many cytochrome P450s have been characterized and cloned.Some of them have been used in plant genetic improvement.A great progress has been made in using these P450 genes to create the transgenic plants with multiple resistances,male sterility,higher capability to dissolve toxic chemicals and pollutants and effective productivity of high valuable compounds,indicating P450 genes have a broad prospect with great potential application.     

细胞色素P450酶系与除草剂代谢

细胞色素P450是广泛存在于动物、植物和微生物体内的一类具有混合功能的血红素氧化酶系。它不但能够催化苯丙烷类、萜类化合物和脂肪酸等内源性物质的生物合成 ,而且参与许多外源性物质包括除草剂等的生物氧化。综述了代谢除草剂的细菌、哺乳动物和植物细胞色素P450酶系 ,概述了细胞色素P450酶系参与除草剂代谢的作用方式 :脱烷基化作用、环甲基化羟基化作用和芳环的羟基化作用等。这些细胞色素P450酶系在培育除草剂抗性作物、生物安全和生物修复方面表现出了巨大的潜能     

Herbicide resistance of transgenic rice plants expressing human CYP1A1

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) metabolize herbicides to produce mainly non-phytotoxic metabolites. Although rice plants endogenously express multiple P450 enzymes, transgenic plants expressing other P450 isoforms might show improved herbicide resistance or reduce herbicide residues. Mammalian P450s metabolizing xenobiotics are reported to show a broad and overlapping substrate specificity towards lipophilic foreign chemicals, including herbicides. These P450s are ideal for enhancing xenobiotic metabolism in plants. A human P450, CYP1A1, metabolizes various herbicides with different structures and modes of herbicide action. We introduced human CYP1A1 into rice plants, and the transgenic rice plants showed broad cross-resistance towards various herbicides and metabolized them. The introduced CYP1A1 enhanced the metabolism of chlorotoluron and norflurazon. The herbicides were metabolized more rapidly in the transgenic rice plants than in non-transgenic controls. Transgenic rice plants expressing P450 might be useful for reducing concentrations of various chemicals in the environment.     

Unusual P450 reactions in plant secondary metabolism

Plant cytochromes P450 (P450s) participate in a variety of biochemical pathways to produce a vast diversity of plant natural products. The number of P450 genes in plant genomes is estimated to be up to 1% of the total gene annotations of each plant species, implying that plants are huge sources for various P450-dependent reactions. Plant P450s catalyze a wide variety of monooxygenation/hydroxylation reactions in secondary metabolism, and some of them are involved in unusual reactions such as methylenedioxy-bridge formation, phenol coupling reactions, oxidative rearrangement of carbon skeletons, and oxidative C–C bond cleavage. Here, we summarize unusual P450 reactions in various plant secondary metabolisms, and describe their proposed reaction mechanisms.     

细胞色素P450在植物与昆虫相互关系中的作用

细胞色素P4 5 0在植物与昆虫相互关系中发挥重要的作用 ,植物可以利用P4 5 0来合成有毒物质以防御昆虫的取食 ,而昆虫则利用P4 5 0对植物毒素进行代谢解毒 ,昆虫以植物代谢中间物为原料合成自身活性物质的过程也有P4 5 0的参与。通过长期的协同进化 ,植物与昆虫的相互作用不仅表现在P4 5 0底物特异性方面 ,也反映在P4 5 0的表达调控上。     

Cytochromes P450: a success story

Cytochrome P450 proteins, named for the absorption band at 450 nm of their carbon-monoxide-bound form, are one of the largest superfamilies of enzyme proteins. The P450 genes (also called CYP) are found in the genomes of virtually all organisms, but their number has exploded in plants. Their amino-acid sequences are extremely diverse, with levels of identity as low as 16% in some cases, but their structural fold has remained the same throughout evolution. P450s are heme-thiolate proteins; their most conserved structural features are related to heme binding and common catalytic properties, the major feature being a completely conserved cysteine serving as fifth (axial) ligand to the heme iron. Canonical P450s use electrons from NAD(P)H to catalyze activation of molecular oxygen, leading to regiospecific and stereospecific oxidative attack of a plethora of substrates. The reactions carried out by P450s, though often hydroxylation, can be extremely diverse and sometimes surprising. They contribute to vital processes such as carbon source assimilation, biosynthesis of hormones and of structural components of living organisms, and also carcinogenesis and degradation of xenobiotics. In plants, chemical defense seems to be a major reason for P450 diversification. In prokaryotes, P450s are soluble proteins. In eukaryotes, they are usually bound to the endoplasmic reticulum or inner mitochondrial membranes. The electron carrier proteins used for conveying reducing equivalents from NAD(P)H differ with subcellular localization. P450 enzymes catalyze many reactions that are important in drug metabolism or that have practical applications in industry; their economic impact is therefore considerable.     

Plant cytochrome P450s: nomenclature and involvement in natural product biosynthesis

Cytochrome P450s constitute the largest family of enzymatic proteins in plants acting on various endogenous and xenobiotic molecules. They are monooxygenases that insert one oxygen atom into inert hydrophobic molecules to make them more reactive and hydro-soluble. Besides for physiological functions, the extremely versatile cytochrome P450 biocatalysts are highly demanded in the fields of biotechnology, medicine, and phytoremediation. The nature of reactions catalyzed by P450s is irreversible, which makes these enzymes attractions in the evolution of plant metabolic pathways. P450s are prime targets in metabolic engineering approaches for improving plant defense against insects and pathogens and for production of secondary metabolites such as the anti-neoplastic drugs taxol or indole alkaloids. The emerging examples of P450 involvement in natural product synthesis in traditional medicinal plant species are becoming increasingly interesting, as they provide new alternatives to modern medicines. In view of the divergent roles of P450s, we review their classification and nomenclature, functions and evolution, role in biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, and use as tools in pharmacology.     

Biosynthesis of coumarins in plants: a major pathway still to be unravelled for cytochrome P450 enzymes

Coumarins (1,2-benzopyrones) are ubiquitously found in higher plants where they originate from the phenylpropanoid pathway. They contribute essentially to the persistence of plants being involved in processes such as defense against phytopathogens, response to abiotic stresses, regulation of oxidative stress, and probably hormonal regulation. Despite their importance, major details of their biosynthesis are still largely unknown and many P450-dependent enzymatic steps have remained unresolved. Ortho-hydroxylation of hydroxycinnamic acids is a pivotal step that has received insufficient attention in the literature. This hypothetical P450 reaction is critical for the course for the biosynthesis of simple coumarin, umbelliferone and other hydroxylated coumarins in plants. Multiple P450 enzymes are also involved in furanocoumarin synthesis, a major class of phytoalexins derived from umbelliferone. Several of them have been characterized at the biochemical level but no monooxygenase gene of the furanocoumarin pathway has been identified yet. This review highlights the major steps of the coumarin pathway with emphasis on the cytochrome P450 enzymes involved. Recent progress and the outcomes of novel strategies developed to uncover coumarin-committed CYPs are discussed.     

Determinants of thermostability in the cytochrome P450 fold

Cytochromes P450 are found throughout the biosphere in a wide range of environments, serving a multitude of physiological functions. The ubiquity of the P450 fold suggests that it has been co-opted by evolution many times, and likely presents a useful compromise between structural stability and conformational flexibility. The diversity of substrates metabolized and reactions catalyzed by P450s makes them attractive starting materials for use as biocatalysts of commercially useful reactions. However, process conditions impose different requirements on enzymes to those in which they have evolved naturally. Most natural environments are relatively mild, and therefore most P450s have not been selected in Nature for the ability to withstand temperatures above ~ 40 °C, yet industrial processes frequently require extended incubations at much higher temperatures. Thus, there has been considerable interest and effort invested in finding or engineering thermostable P450 systems. Numerous P450s have now been identified in thermophilic organisms and analysis of their structures provides information as to mechanisms by which the P450 fold can be stabilized. In addition, protein engineering, particularly by directed or artificial evolution, has revealed mutations that serve to stabilize particular mesophilic enzymes of interest. Here we review the current understanding of thermostability as it applies to the P450 fold, gleaned from the analysis of P450s characterized from thermophilic organisms and the parallel engineering of mesophilic forms for greater thermostability. We then present a perspective on how this information might be used to design stable P450 enzymes for industrial application. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Cytochrome P450 biodiversity and biotechnology, edited by Erika Plettner, Gianfranco Gilardi, Luet Wong, Vlada Urlacher, Jared Goldstone.     

Biochemical and molecular analyses of gibberellin biosynthesis in fungi

The plant hormone, gibberellin (GA), regulates plant growth and development. It was first isolated as a superelongation-promoting diterpenoid from the fungus, Gibberella fujikuroi. G. fujikuroi uses different GA biosynthetic intermediates from those in plants to produce GA3. Another class of GA-producing fungus, Phaeosphaeria sp. L487, synthesizes GA1 by using the same intermediates as those in plants. A molecular analysis of GA biosynthesis in Phaeosphaeria sp. has revealed that diterpene cyclase and cytochrome P450 monooxygenases were involved in the plant-like biosynthesis of GA1. Fungal ent-kaurene synthase is a bifunctional cyclase. Subsequent oxidation steps are catalyzed by P450s, leading to biologically active GA1. GA biosynthesis in plants is divided into three steps involving soluble enzymes and membrane-bound cytochrome P450. The activation of plant GAs is catalyzed by soluble 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases, which is in contrast to the catalysis of fungal GA biosynthesis. This difference suggests that the origin of fungal GA biosynthesis is evolutionally independent of that in plants.     

Cytochrome P450 Monooxygenase CYP53 Family in Fungi: Comparative Structural and Evolutionary Analysis and Its Role as a Common Alternative Anti-Fungal Drug Target

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (CYPs/P450s) are heme-thiolate proteins whose role as a drug target against pathogenic microbes has been explored because of their stereo- and regio-specific oxidation activity. We aimed to assess the CYP53 family''s role as a common alternative drug target against animal (including human) and plant pathogenic fungi and its role in fungal-mediated wood degradation. Genome-wide analysis of fungal species revealed the presence of CYP53 members in ascomycetes and basidiomycetes. Basidiomycetes had a higher number of CYP53 members in their genomes than ascomycetes. Only two CYP53 subfamilies were found in ascomycetes and six subfamilies in basidiomycetes, suggesting that during the divergence of phyla ascomycetes lost CYP53 P450s. According to phylogenetic and gene-structure analysis, enrichment of CYP53 P450s in basidiomycetes occurred due to the extensive duplication of CYP53 P450s in their genomes. Numerous amino acids (103) were found to be conserved in the ascomycetes CYP53 P450s, against only seven in basidiomycetes CYP53 P450s. 3D-modelling and active-site cavity mapping data revealed that the ascomycetes CYP53 P450s have a highly conserved protein structure whereby 78% amino acids in the active-site cavity were found to be conserved. Because of this rigid nature of ascomycetes CYP53 P450s'' active site cavity, any inhibitor directed against this P450 family can serve as a common anti-fungal drug target, particularly toward pathogenic ascomycetes. The dynamic nature of basidiomycetes CYP53 P450s at a gene and protein level indicates that these P450s are destined to acquire novel functions. Functional analysis of CYP53 P450s strongly supported our hypothesis that the ascomycetes CYP53 P450s ability is limited for detoxification of toxic molecules, whereas basidiomycetes CYP53 P450s play an additional role, i.e. involvement in degradation of wood and its derived components. This study is the first report on genome-wide comparative structural (gene and protein structure-level) and evolutionary analysis of a fungal P450 family.     

P450s in plant-insect interactions

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) are integral in defining the relationships between plants and insects. Secondary metabolites produced in plants for protection against insects and other organisms are synthesized via pathways that include P450s in many different families and subfamilies. Survival of insects in the presence of toxic secondary metabolites depends on their metabolism by more limited groups of P450s. Examples of functionally characterized plant and insect P450s known to be involved in these interactions are discussed in terms of their diversities, reactivities and regulators. These and future examples, which will be uncovered as the fields of plant biology and entomology converge on this interesting area, provide much insight into the array of plant metabolites that are mainline defenses against insects, the range of insect monooxygenases that inactivate these compounds and the evolutionary processes occurring as these organisms wage daily battles with one another. Molecular perspectives on these interactions will provide the scientific community with information critical for genetic manipulation of these organisms aimed at enhancing plant resistance to insects and eliminating insect resistance to natural plant toxins and synthetic insecticides.     

Cytochromes P450 in phenolic metabolism

Three independent cytochrome P450 enzyme families catalyze the three rate-limiting hydroxylation steps in the phenylpropanoid pathway leading to the biosynthesis of lignin and numerous other phenolic compounds in plants. Their characterization at the molecular and enzymatic level has revealed an unexpected complexity of phenolic metabolism as the major route involves shikimate/quinate esters and alcohol/aldehyde intermediates. Engineering expression of CYP73s (encoding cinnamate 4-hydroxylase), CYP98s (encoding 4-coumaroylshikimate 3′-hydroxylase) or CYP84s (encoding coniferaldehyde 5-hydroxylase) leads to modified lignin and seed phenolic composition. In particular CYP73s and CYP98s also play essential roles in plant growth and development, while CYP84 constitutes a check-point for the synthesis of syringyl lignin and sinapate esters. Although recent data shed new light on the main path for lignin synthesis, they also raised new questions. Mutants and engineered plants revealed the existence of (an) alternative pathway(s), which most likely involve(s) different precursors and oxygenases. On the other hand, phylogenetic analysis of plant genomes show the existence of P450 gene duplications in each family, which may have led to the acquisition of novel or additional physiological functions in planta. In addition to the main lignin pathway, P450s contribute to the biosynthesis of many bioactive phenolic derivatives, with potential applications in medicine and plant defense, including lignans, phenylethanoids, benzoic acids, xanthones or quinoid compounds. A very small proportion of these P450s have been characterized so far, and rarely at a molecular level. The possible involvement of P450s in salicylic acid is discussed.     

Plant Cytochrome P450 Monooxygenases

Plant systems utilize a diverse array of cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) in their biosynthetic and detoxification pathways. The classic forms of these enzymes are heme-dependent mixed function oxidases that utilize NADPH or NADH and molecular oxygen to produce functionalized organic products. The nonclassical forms are monooxygenases that either do not utilize flavoproteins for dioxygen activation or fail to incorporate molecular oxygen into their final product. Biosynthetic P450s play paramount roles in the synthesis of lignin intermediates, sterols, terpenes, flavonoids, isoflavonoids, furanocoumarins, and a variety of other secondary plant products. Other catabolic P450s metabolize toxic herbicides and insecticides into nontoxic products or, conversely, activate nontoxic substances into toxic products. Biochemical and molecular characterizations on a number of plant P450s have indicated that the relationships between these heme proteins and their substrates are at least as complex as those that exist in mammalian systems. Examples now exist of plant P450s that metabolize: a narrow range of substrates to yield different products, a single substrate to yield different products, multiple substrates to yield the same product, or a single substrate sequentially to yield discrete intermediates in the biosynthesis of a single product. Extensive divergence of catalytic site as well as noncatalytic site residues accounts for the high degree of primary structure variation in the P450 gene superfamily and the diverse array of substrates synthesized and/or detoxified by these proteins. Classic P450s still retain a highly conserved F-G-R-C-G motif in their catalytic site and conserved amino acids in their oxygen binding pocket; nonclassical P450s diverge at several of these positions. A broad range of cloning and transient expression strategies are suitable for plant P450 studies and these have allowed for the isolation and characterization of a number of P450 cDNAs and genes. Because many of these sequences have been cloned only recently, much remains to be learned about the substrate specificities of P450 reactions in plants and the mechanisms by which their genes are regulated.     

Gene engineering, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction of cytochrome P450 p-coumarate-3-hydroxylase (C3H), the Arabidopsis membrane protein

Cytochrome P450s (P450s) are the most versatile biological catalysts in plants; however, because the structure of the P450s has not been fully established, their broad substrate specificity has been limitedly discussed. p-coumarate-3-hydroxylase (C3H) is an essential enzyme for the biosynthesis of phenolic natural products in plants, but all attempts to express and purify C3H, have failed. In this research, we developed a bacterial expression of Arabidopsis C3H by combinational mutagenesis and purified C3H as a catalytically active form. The modified C3H could be purified in the absence of detergent, and crystallized in two forms (orthorhombic and trigonal space group) under different conditions. X-ray diffraction was processed to a 4.0 ? resolution (first type crystal) and a 3.8 ? resolution (second type crystal). Although the diffraction results of C3H(mod) crystals are not enough to determine crystallographic structure due to low resolution, the simplicity and rapidity of this technology are competitive advantages in comparison with other methods, and may contribute to structural analyses of other membrane proteins including P450s family.     

Plant cytochrome P450-mediated herbicide metabolism

In the last two decades it has become apparent that enzymes of the P450 monooxygenase (P450) superfamily are responsible for the Phase I metabolism of numerous herbicides representing several classes of organic compounds. The majority of experimental evidence for P450 involvement in herbicide metabolism has been derived from in vitro studies in which the catalytic activity of plant microsomes towards herbicidal substrates was measured in the presence of various P450 inhibitors and activators. While the studies with microsomes elicited much appreciation for the pivotal roles of plant P450s in herbicide metabolism, detailed characterization of these enzymes only became possible after the isolation of genes encoding specific isoforms responsible for herbicide conversion. Several lines of evidence suggest that the development of herbicide resistance in weeds by enhanced detoxification is frequently associated with elevated levels of P450 activity. Enhanced detoxification-based herbicide resistance is particularly difficult to control, because it can involve resistance to multiple, chemically unrelated classes of herbicides. Continued research efforts are aimed at elucidating the role of P450s in the metabolic fates of herbicides in plants and the development of herbicide resistance in weeds. Recent advances made in the isolation and genetic manipulation of P450 enzymes have created new opportunities for their application in engineering herbicide tolerance and bioremediation.     

Proteolytic degradation of heme-modified hepatic cytochromes P450: A role for phosphorylation, ubiquitination, and the 26S proteasome?

The resident integral hepatic endoplasmic reticulum (ER) proteins, cytochromes P450 (P450s), turn over in vivo with widely varying half-lives. We and others (Correia et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 297, 228, 1992; and Tierney et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 293, 9, 1992) have previously shown that in intact animals, the hepatic P450s of the 3A and 2E1 subfamilies are first ubiquitinated and then proteolyzed after their drug-induced suicide inactivation. Our findings with intact rat hepatocytes and ER preparations containing native P450s and P450s inactivated via heme modification of the protein have revealed that the proteolytic degradation of heme-modified P450s requires a cytosolic ATP-dependent proteolytic system rather than lysosomal or ER proteases (Correia et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 297, 228, 1992). Using purified cumene hydroperoxide-inactivated P450s (rat liver P450s 2B1 or 3A and/or a recombinant human liver P450 3A4) as models, we now document that these heme-modified enzymes are indeed ubiquitinated and then proteolyzed by the 26S proteasome, but not by its 20S proteolytic core. In addition, our studies indicate that the ubiquitination of these heme-modified P450s is preceded by their phosphorylation. It remains to be determined whether, in common with several other cellular proteins, such P450 phosphorylation is indeed required for their degradation. Nevertheless, these findings suggest that the membrane-anchored P450s are to be included in the growing class of ER proteins that undergo ubiquitin-dependent 26S proteasomal degradation.     

Conversion and synthesis of chemicals catalyzed by fungal cytochrome P450 monooxygenases: A review

Cytochrome P450s (also called CYPs or P450s) are a superfamily of heme-containing monooxygenases. They are distributed in all biological kingdoms. Most fungi have at least two P450-encoding genes, CYP51 and CYP61, which are housekeeping genes that play important roles in the synthesis of sterols. However, the kingdom fungi is an interesting source of numerous P450s. Here, we review reports on fungal P450s and their applications in the bioconversion and biosynthesis of chemicals. We highlight their history, availability, and versatility. We describe their involvement in hydroxylation, dealkylation, oxygenation, C═C epoxidation, C–C cleavage, C–C ring formation and expansion, C–C ring contraction, and uncommon reactions in bioconversion and/or biosynthesis pathways. The ability of P450s to catalyze these reactions makes them promising enzymes for many applications. Thus, we also discuss future prospects in this field. We hope that this review will stimulate further study and exploitation of fungal P450s for specific reactions and applications.