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Expression of a fungal sterol desaturase improves tomato drought tolerance, pathogen resistance and nutritional quality.

ABSTRACT: Crop genetic engineering mostly aims at improving environmental stress (biotic and abiotic) tolerance as well as nutritional quality. Empowering a single crop with multiple traits is highly demanding and requires manipulation of more than one gene. However, we report improved drought tolerance and fungal resistance along with the increased iron and polyunsaturated fatty acid content in tomato by expressing a single gene encoding C-5 sterol desaturase (FvC5SD) from an edible fungus Flammulina velutipes. FvC5SD is an iron binding protein involved in ergosterol biosynthesis. Morphological and biochemical analyses indicated ?23% more epicuticular wax deposition in leaves of transgenic plants that provides an effective waterproof barrier resulting in improved protection from drought and infection by phytopathogenic fungus Sclerotiniasclerotiorum. Furthermore, the transgenic fruits have improved nutritional value attributed to enhanced level of beneficial PUFA and 2-3 fold increase in total iron content. This strategy can be extended to other economically important crops.

SUBMITTER: Kamthan A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3517979 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Expression of a fungal sterol desaturase improves tomato drought tolerance, pathogen resistance and nutritional quality.

Kamthan Ayushi A Kamthan Mohan M Azam Mohammad M Chakraborty Niranjan N Chakraborty Subhra S Datta Asis A

Scientific reports 20121210

Crop genetic engineering mostly aims at improving environmental stress (biotic and abiotic) tolerance as well as nutritional quality. Empowering a single crop with multiple traits is highly demanding and requires manipulation of more than one gene. However, we report improved drought tolerance and fungal resistance along with the increased iron and polyunsaturated fatty acid content in tomato by expressing a single gene encoding C-5 sterol desaturase (FvC5SD) from an edible fungus Flammulina vel ...[more]

PMID: 23230516

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Project description:BackgroundSterols are structural and functional components of eukaryotic cell membranes. Plants produce a complex mixture of sterols, among which β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol, and cholesterol in some Solanaceae, are the most abundant species. Many reports have shown that the stigmasterol to β-sitosterol ratio changes during plant development and in response to stresses, suggesting that it may play a role in the regulation of these processes. In tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), changes in the stigmasterol to β-sitosterol ratio correlate with the induction of the only gene encoding sterol C22-desaturase (C22DES), the enzyme specifically involved in the conversion of β-sitosterol to stigmasterol. However, despite the biological interest of this enzyme, there is still a lack of knowledge about several relevant aspects related to its structure and function.ResultsIn this study we report the subcellular localization of tomato C22DES in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) based on confocal fluorescence microscopy and cell fractionation analyses. Modeling studies have also revealed that C22DES consists of two well-differentiated domains: a single N-terminal transmembrane-helix domain (TMH) anchored in the ER-membrane and a globular (or catalytic) domain that is oriented towards the cytosol. Although TMH is sufficient for the targeting and retention of the enzyme in the ER, the globular domain may also interact and be retained in the ER in the absence of the N-terminal transmembrane domain. The observation that a truncated version of C22DES lacking the TMH is enzymatically inactive revealed that the N-terminal membrane domain is essential for enzyme activity. The in silico analysis of the TMH region of plant C22DES revealed several structural features that could be involved in substrate recognition and binding.ConclusionsOverall, this study contributes to expand the current knowledge on the structure and function of plant C22DES and to unveil novel aspects related to plant sterol metabolism.

Project description:Sterols are isoprenoid-derived lipids that play essential structural and functional roles in eukaryotic cells. Plants produce a complex mixture of sterols, and changes in plant sterol profiles have been linked to plant-pathogen interactions. β-Sitosterol and stigmasterol, in particular, have been associated with plant defense. As nematodes have lost the ability to synthesize sterols de novo, they require sterols from the host. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants infected by the plant parasitic nematode Meloidogyne incognita show a reduced level of stigmasterol and a repression of the gene CYP710A11, encoding the sterol C-22 desaturase that is responsible for the conversion of β-sitosterol to stigmasterol. In this study, we investigated the role of the tomato sterol C-22 desaturase gene CYP710A11 in the response to infection by M. incognita. We explored the plant-nematode interaction over time by analyzing the plant sterol composition and CYP710A11 gene regulation in S. lycopersicum after M. incognita infection. The temporal gene expression analysis showed that 3 days after inoculation with M. incognita, the CYP710A11 expression was significantly suppressed in the tomato roots, while a significant decrease in the stigmasterol content was observed after 14 days. A cyp710a11 knockout mutant tomato line lacking stigmasterol was analyzed to better understand the role of CYP710A11 in nematode development. M. incognita grown in the mutant line showed reduced egg mass counts, presumably due to the impaired growth of the mutant. However, the nematodes developed as well as they did in the wild-type line. Thus, while the suppression of CYP710A11 expression during nematode development may be a defense response of the plant against the nematode, the lack of stigmasterol did not seem to affect the nematode. This study contributes to the understanding of the role of stigmasterol in the interaction between M. incognita and tomato plants and shows that the sterol C-22 desaturase is not essential for the success of M. incognita.

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Expression of a fungal sterol desaturase improves tomato drought tolerance, pathogen resistance and nutritional quality.

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Expression of a fungal sterol desaturase improves tomato drought tolerance, pathogen resistance and nutritional quality.

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