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Food safety: Structure and expression of the asparagine synthetase gene family of wheat.

ABSTRACT: Asparagine is an important nitrogen storage and transport molecule, but its accumulation as a free amino acid in crops has implications for food safety because free asparagine is a precursor for acrylamide formation during cooking and processing. Asparagine synthesis occurs by the amidation of aspartate, catalysed by asparagine synthetase, and this study concerned the expression of asparagine synthetase (TaASN) genes in wheat. The expression of three genes, TaASN1-3, was studied in different tissues and in response to nitrogen and sulphur supply. The expression of TaASN2 in the embryo and endosperm during mid to late grain development was the highest of any of the genes in any tissue. Both TaASN1 and TaASN2 increased in expression through grain development, and in the grain of field-grown plants during mid-development in response to sulphur deprivation. However, only TaASN1 was affected by nitrogen or sulphur supply in pot-based experiments, showing complex tissue-specific and developmentally-changing responses. A putative N-motif or GCN4-like regulatory motif was found in the promoter of TaASN1 genes from several cereal species. As the study was completed, a fourth gene, TaASN4, was identified from recently available genome data. Phylogenetic analysis showed that other cereal species have similar asparagine synthetase gene families to wheat.

SUBMITTER: Gao R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4829093 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Food safety: Structure and expression of the asparagine synthetase gene family of wheat.

Gao Runhong R Curtis Tanya Y TY Powers Stephen J SJ Xu Hongwei H Huang Jianhua J Halford Nigel G NG

Journal of Cereal Science. 20160301

Asparagine is an important nitrogen storage and transport molecule, but its accumulation as a free amino acid in crops has implications for food safety because free asparagine is a precursor for acrylamide formation during cooking and processing. Asparagine synthesis occurs by the amidation of aspartate, catalysed by asparagine synthetase, and this study concerned the expression of asparagine synthetase (<i>TaASN</i>) genes in wheat. The expression of three genes, <i>TaASN1-3</i>, was studied in ...[more]

PMID: 27110058

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Project description:BackgroundUnderstanding the determinants of free asparagine concentration in wheat grain is necessary to reduce levels of the processing contaminant acrylamide in baked and toasted wheat products. Although crop management strategies can help reduce asparagine concentrations, breeders have limited options to select for genetic variation underlying this trait. Asparagine synthetase enzymes catalyse a critical step in asparagine biosynthesis in plants and, in wheat, are encoded by five homeologous gene triads that exhibit distinct expression profiles. Within this family, TaASN2 genes are highly expressed during grain development but TaASN-B2 is absent in some varieties.ResultsNatural genetic diversity in the asparagine synthetase gene family was assessed in different wheat varieties revealing instances of presence/absence variation and other polymorphisms, including some predicted to affect the function of the encoded protein. The presence and absence of TaASN-B2 was determined across a range of UK and global common wheat varieties and related species, showing that the deletion encompassing this gene was already present in some wild emmer wheat genotypes. Expression profiling confirmed that TaASN2 transcripts were only detectable in the grain, while TaASN3.1 genes were highly expressed during the early stages of grain development. TaASN-A2 was the most highly expressed TaASN2 homeologue in most assayed wheat varieties. TaASN-B2 and TaASN-D2 were expressed at similar, lower levels in varieties possessing TaASN-B2. Expression of TaASN-A2 and TaASN-D2 did not increase to compensate for the absence of TaASN-B2, so total TaASN2 expression was lower in varieties lacking TaASN-B2. Consequently, free asparagine concentrations in field-produced grain were, on average, lower in varieties lacking TaASN-B2, although the effect was lost when free asparagine accumulated to very high concentrations as a result of sulphur deficiency.ConclusionsSelecting wheat genotypes lacking the TaASN-B2 gene may be a simple and rapid way for breeders to reduce free asparagine concentrations in commercial wheat grain.

Project description:Asparagine synthetase catalyses the transfer of an amino group from glutamine to aspartate to form glutamate and asparagine. The accumulation of free (nonprotein) asparagine in crops has implications for food safety because free asparagine is the precursor for acrylamide, a carcinogenic contaminant that forms during high-temperature cooking and processing. Here we review publicly available genome data for asparagine synthetase genes from species of the Pooideae subfamily, including bread wheat and related wheat species (Triticum and Aegilops spp.), barley (Hordeum vulgare) and rye (Secale cereale) of the Triticeae tribe. Also from the Pooideae subfamily: brachypodium (Brachypodium dIstachyon) of the Brachypodiae tribe. More diverse species are also included, comprising sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and maize (Zea mays) of the Panicoideae subfamily and rice (Oryza sativa) of the Ehrhartoideae subfamily. The asparagine synthetase gene families of the Triticeae species each comprise five genes per genome, with the genes assigned to four groups: 1, 2, 3 (subdivided into 3.1 and 3.2) and 4. Each species has a single gene per genome in each group, except that some bread wheat varieties (genomes AABBDD) and emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccoides; genomes AABB) lack a group 2 gene in the B genome. This raises questions about the ancestry of cultivated pasta wheat and the B genome donor of bread wheat, suggesting that the hybridisation event that gave rise to hexaploid bread wheat occurred more than once. In phylogenetic analyses, genes from the other species cluster with the Triticeae genes, but brachypodium, sorghum and maize lack a group 2 gene, while rice has only two genes, one group 3 and one group 4. This means that TaASN2, the most highly expressed asparagine synthetase gene in wheat grain, has no equivalent in maize, rice, sorghum or brachypodium. An evolutionary pathway is proposed in which a series of gene duplications gave rise to the five genes found in modern Triticeae species.

Dataset Information

Food safety: Structure and expression of the asparagine synthetase gene family of wheat.

Publications

Food safety: Structure and expression of the asparagine synthetase gene family of wheat.

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