拟南芥莲座叶芥子油苷含量对水分胁迫的响应

芥子油苷(glucosinolates)是十字花科植物中一类含氮、含硫的次生代谢产物,与其水解产物在植物防御功能中有重要意义且与环境因子关系密切.通过控制供水的方式对营养生长时期的拟南芥幼苗进行水分胁迫,观察了土壤自然干旱对营养生长时期拟南芥莲座叶芥子油苷含量及组成的影响.结果表明,土壤自然干旱处理下,拟南芥莲座叶的芥子油苷总量从处理3 d起低于对照,且随着处理天数的增加与对照组的差异逐渐增大,脂肪族芥子油苷的响应均比较明显,与芥子油苷总量的变化趋势基本一致,而吲哚族芥子油苷对水分胁迫则不敏感.脂肪族中的4-甲基亚磺酰丁基芥子油苷(4-methylsulphinylbutyl GS,4MSOB)占脂肪族芥子油苷的比例最大,它的含量变化成为影响莲座叶中芥子油苷组合模式的主导因素.     

Contribution of Glucosinolate Transport to Arabidopsis Defense Responses

Accumulation of glucosinolates, a class of defense-related secondary metabolites found almost exclusively in the Capparales, is induced in response to a variety of biological stresses. It is often assumed that elevated glucosinolate levels result from de novo biosynthesis, but glucosinolate transport from other parts of the plant to the site of herbivory or pathogen infection can also contribute to the defense response. Several studies with Arabidopsis and other crucifers have demonstrated that glucosinolates from vegetative tissue are transported to developing seeds. Here we discuss evidence that long-chain aliphatic glucosinolates are transported to the site of herbivory in response to Myzus persicae (green peach aphid) feeding on Arabidopsis.Key Words: glucosinolate, transport, graft, Arabidopsis, Myzus persicae, aphid     

Variation of glucosinolate accumulation among different organs and developmental stages of Arabidopsis thaliana

The glucosinolate content of various organs of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh., Columbia (Col-0) ecotype, was analyzed at different stages during its life cycle. Significant differences were noted among organs in both glucosinolate concentration and composition. Dormant and germinating seeds had the highest concentration (2.5-3.3% by dry weight), followed by inflorescences, siliques (fruits), leaves and roots. While aliphatic glucosinolates predominated in most organs, indole glucosinolates made up nearly half of the total composition in roots and late-stage rosette leaves. Seeds had a very distinctive glucosinolate composition. They possessed much higher concentrations of several types of aliphatic glucosinolates than other organs, including methylthioalkyl and, hydroxyalkyl glucosinolates and compounds with benzoate esters than other organs. From a developmental perspective, older leaves had lower glucosinolate concentrations than younger leaves, but this was not due to decreasing concentrations in individual leaves with age (glucosinolate concentration was stable during leaf expansion). Rather, leaves initiated earlier in development simply had much lower rates of glucosinolate accumulation per dry weight gain throughout their lifetimes. During seed germination and leaf senescence, there were significant declines in glucosinolate concentration. The physiological and ecological significance of these findings is briefly discussed.     

Elucidating the Role of Transport Processes in Leaf Glucosinolate Distribution

In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), a strategy to defend its leaves against herbivores is to accumulate glucosinolates along the midrib and at the margin. Although it is generally assumed that glucosinolates are synthesized along the vasculature in an Arabidopsis leaf, thereby suggesting that the margin accumulation is established through transport, little is known about these transport processes. Here, we show through leaf apoplastic fluid analysis and glucosinolate feeding experiments that two glucosinolate transporters, GTR1 and GTR2, essential for long-distance transport of glucosinolates in Arabidopsis, also play key roles in glucosinolate allocation within a mature leaf by effectively importing apoplastically localized glucosinolates into appropriate cells. Detection of glucosinolates in root xylem sap unambiguously shows that this transport route is involved in root-to-shoot glucosinolate allocation. Detailed leaf dissections show that in the absence of GTR1 and GTR2 transport activity, glucosinolates accumulate predominantly in leaf margins and leaf tips. Furthermore, we show that glucosinolates accumulate in the leaf abaxial epidermis in a GTR-independent manner. Based on our results, we propose a model for how glucosinolates accumulate in the leaf margin and epidermis, which includes symplasmic movement through plasmodesmata, coupled with the activity of putative vacuolar glucosinolate importers in these peripheral cell layers.Feeding behavior of herbivorous insects and distribution of defense compounds in plants have been suggested to be a result of an arms race between plants and insects that has spanned millions of years (Ehrlich and Raven, 1964). Whether insects adapted first to plants or the other way around is an ongoing debate in this research field (Schoonhoven et al., 2005; Ali and Agrawal, 2012). Leaf margin accumulation of defense compounds has been demonstrated in various plant species (Gutterman and Chauser-Volfson, 2000; Chauser-Volfson et al., 2002; Kester et al., 2002; Cooney et al., 2012). In the model plant Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), higher concentration of glucosinolates, which constitute a major part of the chemical defense system in this plant (Kliebenstein et al., 2001a; Halkier and Gershenzon, 2006), was found at the leaf midrib and margins compared with the leaf lamina (Shroff et al., 2008; Sønderby et al., 2010). This nonuniform leaf distribution of glucosinolates appeared to explain the feeding pattern of a generalist herbivore (Helicoverpa armigera), as it avoided feeding at the leaf margin and midrib (Shroff et al., 2008). A similar feeding pattern on Arabidopsis was observed for a different generalist herbivore, Spodoptera littoralis (Schweizer et al., 2013). Interestingly, S. littoralis was shown to favor feeding from Arabidopsis leaf margins in glucosinolate-deficient mutants (Schweizer et al., 2013), which could indicate an inherent preference for margin feeding and that Arabidopsis adapted to such behavior by accumulating defense compounds here. A damaged leaf margin may be more critical for leaf stability than damage to inner leaf parts (Shroff et al., 2008), further motivating protection of this tissue. The margin-feeding preference of S. littoralis might be explained by better nutritional value of the leaf margin cells (Schweizer et al., 2013), which has been shown to consist of specialized elongated cell files (Koroleva et al., 2010; Nakata and Okada, 2013).Other distribution patterns have been reported for glucosinolates in an Arabidopsis leaf. A study investigating spatiotemporal metabolic shifts during senescence in Arabidopsis reported that fully expanded mature leaves exhibited a glucosinolate gradient from base to tip, with highest level of glucosinolates at the leaf base (Watanabe et al., 2013). In contrast to the horizontal plane, less has been reported on distribution of glucosinolates in the vertical plane of a leaf. A localization study of cyanogenic glucosides, defense molecules related to glucosinolates (Halkier and Gershenzon, 2006), determined that these compounds primarily were located in the epidermis of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor; Kojima et al., 1979). Whereas epidermis-derived trichomes in Arabidopsis were recently demonstrated to contain glucosinolates and to express glucosinolate biosynthetic genes (Frerigmann et al., 2012), no studies have investigated glucosinolates in the epidermal cell layer.Based on promoter-GUS studies, biosynthesis of glucosinolates in leaves of Arabidopsis has been associated with primarily major and minor veins in leaves and silique walls (Mikkelsen et al., 2000; Reintanz et al., 2001; Tantikanjana et al., 2001; Chen et al., 2003; Grubb et al., 2004; Schuster et al., 2006; Gigolashvili et al., 2007; Li et al., 2011; Redovniković et al., 2012). The discrepancy between vasculature-associated glucosinolate biosynthesis and margin accumulation of glucosinolates suggests that transport processes must be involved in establishing the distribution pattern of glucosinolates within a leaf.Plant transport systems include the apoplastic xylem, the symplastic phloem, and plasmodesmata. Xylem transport is mainly driven by an upward pull generated by transpiration from aerial plant organs, thereby directing transport to sites of rapid evaporation (such as leaf margins; Sattelmacher, 2001). Phloem flow is facilitated by an osmosis-regulated hydrostatic pressure difference between source and sink tissue, primarily generated by Suc bulk flow (Lucas et al., 2013). Plasmodesmata are intercellular channels that establish symplasmic pathways between neighboring cells, and most cell types in a plant are symplastically connected via plasmodesmata (Roberts and Oparka, 2003). Translocation of small molecules in these channels is driven by diffusion and is regulated developmentally as well as spatially to form symplastically connected domains (Roberts and Oparka, 2003; Christensen et al., 2009). To what extent any of these transport processes are involved in establishing specific distribution patterns of glucosinolates within leaves is not known.Recently, two plasma membrane-localized, glucosinolate-specific importers, GLUCOSINOLATE TRANSPORTER1 (GTR1) and GTR2, were identified in Arabidopsis (Nour-Eldin et al., 2012). In leaf, their expression patterns were shown to be in leaf veins (GTR1 and GTR2) and surrounding mesophyll cells (GTR1; Nour-Eldin et al., 2012). Absence of aliphatic and indole glucosinolates in seeds of the gtr1gtr2 double knockout (dKO) mutant (gtr1gtr2 dKO) demonstrated that these transporters are essential for long-distance glucosinolate transport to the seeds and indicates a role in phloem loading (Nour-Eldin et al., 2012). Another study investigating long-distance transport of glucosinolates in the 3-week-old wild type and gtr1gtr2 dKO indicated that GTR1 and GTR2 were involved in bidirectional transport of aliphatic glucosinolates between root and shoot via both phloem and xylem pathways (Andersen et al., 2013). The authors suggested a role for GTR1 and GTR2 in the retention of long-chained aliphatic glucosinolates in roots by removing the compounds from the xylem (Andersen et al., 2013).Identification of the glucosinolate transporters GTR1 and GTR2 has provided a molecular tool to investigate the role of transport processes in establishing leaf glucosinolate distribution. In this study, we have performed a detailed spatial investigation of the distribution of an exogenously fed glucosinolate (sinigrin) and endogenous glucosinolates within mature wild-type and gtr1gtr2 dKO Arabidopsis leaves, achieved by collecting and analyzing leaf parts at the horizontal (y axis: petiole, base, and tip; x axis: midrib, lamina, and margin) as well as at the vertical leaf plane (z axis: abaxial epidermis). Furthermore, we analyze wild-type and gtr1gtr2 dKO root xylem sap and leaf apoplastic fluids for glucosinolates. Based on our results, we propose a model where GTR1 and GTR2 import glucosinolates from the apoplast to the symplast and where the glucosinolate distribution pattern within an Arabidopsis leaf is established via symplasmic movement of glucosinolates through plasmodesmata, coupled with the activity of putative vacuolar glucosinolate importers in peripheral cell layers.     

Glucosinolate profiling of Brassica rapa cultivars after infection by Leptosphaeria maculans and Fusarium oxysporum

The glucosinolate contents of two different cultivars of Brassica rapa (Herfstraap and Oleifera) infected with Leptosphaeria maculans and Fusarium oxysporum were determined. Infection triggered the accumulation of aliphatic glucosinolates (gluconapin, progoitrin, glucobrassicanapin and gluconapoleiferin) and indole glucosinolate (4-hydroxy-glucobrassicin) in Herfstraap and of two indole glucosinolates (glucobrassicin and 4-hydroxy-glucobrassicin) in Oleifera. While total and aliphatic glucosinolates decreased significantly in Oleifera, a large increase was observed in Herfstraap after fungal infection. The indole glucosinolate glucobrassicin accumulated in Oleifera at a higher rate than Herfstraap especially after infection with F. oxysporum. Apparently the interaction between fungus and B. rapa is cultivar and fungal species specific.     

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.     

Myzus persicae (green peach aphid) feeding on Arabidopsis induces the formation of a deterrent indole glucosinolate

Cruciferous plants produce a wide variety of glucosinolates as a protection against herbivores and pathogens. However, very little is known about the importance of individual glucosinolates in plant defense and the regulation of their production in response to herbivory. When Myzus persicae (green peach aphid) feeds on Arabidopsis aliphatic glucosinolates pass through the aphid gut intact, but indole glucosinolates are mostly degraded. Although aphid feeding causes an overall decrease in Arabidopsis glucosinolate content, the production of 4-methoxyindol-3-ylmethylglucosinolate is induced. This altered glucosinolate profile is not a systemic plant response, but is limited to the area in which aphids are feeding. Aphid feeding on detached leaves causes a similar change in the glucosinolate profile, demonstrating that glucosinolate transport is not required for the observed changes. Salicylate-mediated signaling has been implicated in other plant responses to aphid feeding. However, analysis of eds5, pad4, npr1 and NahG transgenic Arabidopsis, which are compromised in this pathway, demonstrated that aphid-induced changes in the indole glucosinolate profile were unaffected. The addition of purified indol-3-ylmethylglucosinolate to the petioles of cyp79B2 cyp79B3 mutant leaves, which do not produce indole glucosinolates, showed that this glucosinolate serves as a precursor for the aphid-induced synthesis of 4-methoxyindol-3-ylmethylglucosinolate. In artificial diets, 4-methoxyindol-3-ylmethylglucosinolate is a significantly greater aphid deterrent in the absence of myrosinase than its metabolic precursor indol-3-ylmethylglucosinolate. Together, these results demonstrate that, in response to aphid feeding, Arabidopsis plants convert one indole glucosinolate to another that provides a greater defensive benefit.     

Prodromo della Flora Umbra

Defense responses of plants are activated not only in the wounded tissues but also in the remote parts of the plants. Two different methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatments were conducted, i.e., MeJA solution spraying of entire rosettes leaves and pasting leaf surface with lanolin squares containing MeJA. Glucosinolate profiles in leaves were similar using the two methods of MeJA treatment except for indole glucosinolates. The glucosinolate profiles in local and systemic leaves showed that the accumulation of glucosinolates in systemic leaves were delayed comparing with those in local treated leaves. Comparative proteomics were used to investigate the molecular processes underlying the glucosinolate changes in response to local and systemic MeJA induction. A total of 83 unique proteins were detected as differentially expressed between the local and systemic leaves. Functional analysis showed that redirection of metabolism from growth to defense was differentially regulated in local and systemic MeJA induction. The higher contents of indole glucosinolates in systemic leaves might arise from the induction of a long-distance signal produced in local leaves as well as from JA synthesized in systemic leaves.     

Localization of the glucosinolate biosynthetic enzymes reveals distinct spatial patterns for the biosynthesis of indole and aliphatic glucosinolates

Glucosinolates constitute the primary defense metabolites in Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis). Indole and aliphatic glucosinolates, biosynthesized from tryptophan and methionine, respectively, are known to serve distinct biological functions. Although all genes in the biosynthetic pathways are identified, and it is known where glucosinolates are stored, it has remained elusive where glucosinolates are produced at the cellular and tissue level. To understand how the spatial organization of the different glucosinolate biosynthetic pathways contributes to their distinct biological functions, we investigated the localization of enzymes of the pathways under constitutive conditions and, for indole glucosinolates, also under induced conditions, by analyzing the spatial distribution of several fluorophore‐tagged enzymes at the whole plant and the cellular level. We show that key steps in the biosynthesis of the different types of glucosinolates are localized in distinct cells in separate as well as overlapping vascular tissues. The presence of glucosinolate biosynthetic enzymes in parenchyma cells of the vasculature may assign new defense‐related functions to these cell types. The knowledge gained in this study is an important prerequisite for understanding the orchestration of chemical defenses from site of synthesis to site of storage and potential (re)mobilization upon attack.     

CYP79F1 and CYP79F2 have distinct functions in the biosynthesis of aliphatic glucosinolates in Arabidopsis

Cytochromes P450 of the CYP79 family catalyze the conversion of amino acids to oximes in the biosynthesis of glucosinolates, a group of natural plant products known to be involved in plant defense and as a source of flavor compounds, cancer-preventing agents and bioherbicides. We report a detailed biochemical analysis of the substrate specificity and kinetics of CYP79F1 and CYP79F2, two cytochromes P450 involved in the biosynthesis of aliphatic glucosinolates in Arabidopsis thaliana. Using recombinant CYP79F1 and CYP79F2 expressed in Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, respectively, we show that CYP79F1 metabolizes mono- to hexahomomethionine, resulting in both short- and long-chain aliphatic glucosinolates. In contrast, CYP79F2 exclusively metabolizes long-chain elongated penta- and hexahomomethionines. CYP79F1 and CYP79F2 are spatially and developmentally regulated, with different gene expression patterns. CYP79F2 is highly expressed in hypocotyl and roots, whereas CYP79F1 is strongly expressed in cotyledons, rosette leaves, stems, and siliques. A transposon-tagged CYP79F1 knockout mutant completely lacks short-chain aliphatic glucosinolates, but has an increased level of long-chain aliphatic glucosinolates, especially in leaves and seeds. The level of long-chain aliphatic glucosinolates in a transposon-tagged CYP79F2 knockout mutant is substantially reduced, whereas the level of short-chain aliphatic glucosinolates is not affected. Biochemical characterization of CYP79F1 and CYP79F2, and gene expression analysis, combined with glucosinolate profiling of knockout mutants demonstrate the functional role of these enzymes. This provides valuable insights into the metabolic network leading to the biosynthesis of aliphatic glucosinolates, and into metabolic engineering of altered aliphatic glucosinolate profiles to improve nutritional value and pest resistance.     

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。     

Glucosinolate responses of oilseed rape, mustard and kale to mechanical wounding and infestation by cabbage stem flea beetle (Psylliodes chrysocephala)

Mechanical wounding of the petioles of six laboratory-grown rapeseed ( Brassica napus ) cultivars induced physiological changes in the plant, markedly affecting the levels of individual glucosinolates. Greatest increases were observed for the indole glucosinolates, glucobrassicin and neoglucobrassicin. Such changes were usually associated with large decreases in the levels of aliphatic glucosinolates. The total glucosinolate content of the wounded plant was thus a reflection of these two opposing trends and wounding produced a greater relative indole glucosinolate content in this total figure. Thus increasing wounding was associated with an increase in indole glucosinolates and a decrease in aliphatic compounds.
Infestation of field- and laboratory-grown rapeseed with cabbage stem flea beetle ( Psylliodes chrysocephala ) produced similar effects, which were observed in various parts of the plant. Differences in response between field- and laboratory-grown infested plants are attributed to the different physiological ages of the harvested material.
Laboratory-grown kale and mustards also showed wound-induced glucosinolate changes. The kale, cv. Fribor, produced elevated levels of both indoles and aliphatics after wounding. Total glucosinolate content in the mustards, which, unlike rape and kale, normally contain only traces of indole glucosinolates in the unstressed state, was increased following wounding. This was, however, not associated with elevated levels of indole glucosinolates, but with accumulation of aliphatic ( Brassica nigra, B. juncea ) and aromatic ( Sinapis alba ) glucosinolates. The significance of these findings is discussed.     

Genotype, age, tissue, and environment regulate the structural outcome of glucosinolate activation

Glucosinolates are the inert storage form of a two-part phytochemical defense system in which the enzyme myrosinase generates an unstable intermediate that rapidly rearranges into the biologically active product. This rearrangement step generates simple nitriles, epithionitriles, or isothiocyanates, depending on the structure of the parent glucosinolate and the presence of proteins that promote specific structural outcomes. Glucosinolate accumulation and myrosinase activity differ by plant age and tissue type and respond to environmental stimuli such as planting density and herbivory; however, the influence of these factors on the structural outcome of the rearrangement step remains unknown. We show that the structural outcome of glucosinolate activation is controlled by interactions among plant age, planting density, and natural genetic variation in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) rosette leaves using six well-studied accessions. We identified a similarly complex interaction between tissue type and the natural genetic variation present within these accessions. This raises questions about the relative importance of these novel levels of regulation in the evolution of plant defense. Using mutants in the structural specifier and glucosinolate activation genes identified previously in Arabidopsis rosette leaves, we demonstrate the requirement for additional myrosinases and structural specifiers controlling these processes in the roots and seedlings. Finally, we present evidence for a novel EPITHIOSPECIFIER PROTEIN-independent, simple nitrile-specifying activity that promotes the formation of simple nitriles but not epithionitriles from all glucosinolates tested.     

The characterisation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">AOP2</Emphasis>: a gene associated with the biosynthesis of aliphatic alkenyl glucosinolates in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis thaliana</Emphasis>

Background  

Glucosinolates, a group of nitrogen and sulfur containing compounds associated with plant-insect interactions, are produced by a number of important Brassicaceae crop species. In Arabidopsis the AOP2 gene plays a role in the secondary modification of aliphatic (methionine-derived) glucosinolates, namely the conversion of methylsulfinylalkyl glucosinolates to form alkenyl glucosinolates, and also influences aliphatic glucosinolate accumulation.     

Identification of indole glucosinolate breakdown products with antifeedant effects on Myzus persicae (green peach aphid)

The cleavage of glucosinolates by myrosinase to produce toxic breakdown products is a characteristic insect defense of cruciferous plants. Although green peach aphids ( Myzus persicae ) are able to avoid most contact with myrosinase when feeding from the phloem of Arabidopsis thaliana , indole glucosinolates are nevertheless degraded during passage through the insects. A defensive role for indole glucosinolates is suggested by the observation that atr1D mutant plants, which overproduce indole glucosinolates, are more resistant to M. persicae , whereas cyp79B2 cyp79B3 double mutants, which lack indole glucosinolates, succumb to M. persicae more rapidly. Indole glucosinolate breakdown products, including conjugates formed with ascorbate, glutathione and amino acids, are elevated in the honeydew of M. persicae feeding from atr1D mutant plants, but are absent when the aphids are feeding on cyp79B2 cyp79B3 double mutants. M. persicae feeding from wild-type plants and myrosinase-deficient tgg1 tgg2 double mutants excrete a similar profile of indole glucosinolate-derived metabolites, indicating that the breakdown is independent of these foliar myrosinases. Artificial diet experiments show that the reaction of indole-3-carbinol, a breakdown product of indol-3-ylmethylglucosinolate, with ascorbate, glutathione and cysteine produces diindolylmethylcysteines and other conjugates that have antifeedant effects on M. persicae . Therefore, the post-ingestive breakdown of indole glucosinolates provides a defense against herbivores such as aphids that can avoid glucosinolate activation by plant myrosinases.     

Characterization of seed-specific benzoyloxyglucosinolate mutations in Arabidopsis thaliana

Glucosinolates are secondary metabolites involved in pathogen and insect defense of cruciferous plants. Although seeds and vegetative tissue often have very different glucosinolate profiles, few genetic factors that determine seed glucosinolate accumulation have been identified. An HPLC-based screen of 5500 mutagenized Arabidopsis thaliana lines produced 33 glucosinolate mutants, of which 21 have seed-specific changes. Five of these mutant lines, representing three genetic loci, are compromised in the biosynthesis of benzoyloxyglucosinolates, which are only found in seeds and young seedlings of A. thaliana. Genetic mapping and analysis of T-DNA insertions in candidate genes identified BZO1 (At1g65880), which encodes an enzyme with benzoyl-CoA ligase activity, as being required for the accumulation of benzoyloxyglucosinolates. Long-chain aliphatic glucosinolates are elevated in bzo1 mutants, suggesting substrate competition for the common short-chain aliphatic glucosinolate precursors. Whereas bzo1 mutations have seed-specific effects on benzoyloxyglucosinolate accumulation, the relative abundance of 3-benzoyloxypropyl- and 4-benzoyloxybutylglucosinolates depends on the maternal genotype.