Probing allelochemical biosynthesis in sorghum root hairs

Allelopathic interaction between plants is thought to involve the release of phytotoxic allelochemicals by one species, thus inhibiting the growth of neighboring species in competition for limited resources. Sorgoleone represents one of the more potent allelochemicals characterized to date, and its prolific production in root hair cells of Sorghum spp. has made the investigation of its biosynthetic pathway ideally-suited for functional genomics investigations. Through the use of a recently-released EST data set generated from isolated Sorghum bicolor root hair cells, significant inroads have been made toward the identification of genes and the corresponding enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of this compound in root hairs. Here we provide additional information concerning our recent report on the identification of a 5-n-alk(en) ylresorcinol utilizing O-methyltransferase, as well as other key enzymes likely to participate in the biosynthesis of this important allelochemical.Key words: allelopathy, sorgoleone, root hair, EST, O-methyltransferase