Dataset Information

Functional Diversification of the Dihydroflavonol 4-Reductase from Camellia nitidissima Chi. in the Control of Polyphenol Biosynthesis.

ABSTRACT: Plant secondary metabolism is complex in its diverse chemical composition and dynamic regulation of biosynthesis. How the functional diversification of enzymes contributes to the diversity is largely unknown. In the flavonoids pathway, dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR) is a key enzyme mediating dihydroflavanol into anthocyanins biosynthesis. Here, the DFR homolog was identified from Camellia nitidissima Chi. (CnDFR) which is a unique species of the genus Camellia with golden yellow petals. Sequence analysis showed that CnDFR possessed not only conserved catalytic domains, but also some amino acids peculiar to Camellia species. Gene expression analysis revealed that CnDFR was expressed in all tissues and the expression of CnDFR was positively correlated with polyphenols but negatively with yellow coloration. The subcellular localization of CnDFR by the tobacco infiltration assay showed a likely dual localization in the nucleus and cell membrane. Furthermore, overexpression transgenic lines were generated in tobacco to understand the molecular function of CnDFR. The analyses of metabolites suggested that ectopic expression of CnDFR enhanced the biosynthesis of polyphenols, while no accumulation of anthocyanins was detected. These results indicate a functional diversification of the reductase activities in Camellia plants and provide molecular insights into the regulation of floral color.

SUBMITTER: Jiang L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7696568 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Functional Diversification of the Dihydroflavonol 4-Reductase from Camellia nitidissima Chi. in the Control of Polyphenol Biosynthesis.

Jiang Lina L Fan Zhengqi Z Tong Ran R Zhou Xingwen X Li Jiyuan J Yin Hengfu H

Genes 20201112 11

Plant secondary metabolism is complex in its diverse chemical composition and dynamic regulation of biosynthesis. How the functional diversification of enzymes contributes to the diversity is largely unknown. In the flavonoids pathway, dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR) is a key enzyme mediating dihydroflavanol into anthocyanins biosynthesis. Here, the DFR homolog was identified from Camellia nitidissima Chi. (CnDFR) which is a unique species of the genus Camellia with ...[more]

PMID: 33198369

Similar Datasets

Project description:Grape hyacinth (Muscari spp.) is a popular ornamental plant with bulbous flowers noted for their rich blue color. Muscari species have been thought to accumulate delphinidin and cyanidin rather than pelargonidin-type anthocyanins because their dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR) does not efficiently reduce dihydrokaempferol. In our study, we clone a novel DFR gene from blue flowers of Muscari. aucheri. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and anthocyanin analysis showed that the expression pattern of MaDFR had strong correlations with the accumulation of delphinidin, relatively weak correlations with cyanidin, and no correations with pelargonidin. However, in vitro enzymatic analysis revealed that the MaDFR enzyme can reduce all the three types of dihydroflavonols (dihydrokaempferol, dihydroquercetin, and dihydromyricetin), although it most preferred dihydromyricetin as a substrate to produce leucodelphinidin, the precursor of blue-hued delphinidin. This indicated that there may be other functional genes responsible for the loss of red pelargonidin-based pigments in Muscari. To further verify the substrate-specific selection domains of MaDFR, an assay of amino acid substitutions was conducted. The activity of MaDFR was not affected whenever the N135 or E146 site was mutated. However, when both of them were mutated, the catalytic activity of MaDFR was lost completely. The results suggest that both the N135 and E146 sites are essential for the activity of MaDFR. Additionally, the heterologous expression of MaDFR in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) resulted in increasing anthocyanin accumulation, leading to a darker flower color, which suggested that MaDFR was involved in color development in flowers. In summary, MaDFR has a high preference for dihydromyricetin, and it could be a powerful candidate gene for genetic engineering for blue flower colour modification. Our results also make a valuable contribution to understanding the basis of color variation in the genus Muscari.

Project description:The golden camellia, Camellia nitidissima Chi., is a well-known ornamental plant that is known as "the queen of camellias" because of its golden yellow flowers. The principal pigments in the flowers are carotenoids and flavonol glycosides. Understanding the biosynthesis of the golden color and its regulation is important in camellia breeding. To obtain a comprehensive understanding of flower development in C. nitidissima, a number of cDNA libraries were independently constructed during flower development. Using the Illumina Hiseq2500 platform, approximately 71.8 million raw reads (about 10.8 gigabase pairs) were obtained and assembled into 583,194 transcripts and 466, 594 unigenes. A differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and co-expression network was constructed to identify unigenes correlated with flower color. The analysis of DEGs and co-expressed network involved in the carotenoid pathway indicated that the biosynthesis of carotenoids is regulated mainly at the transcript level and that phytoene synthase (PSY), ? -carotene 3-hydroxylase (CrtZ), and capsanthin synthase (CCS1) exert synergistic effects in carotenoid biosynthesis. The analysis of DEGs and co-expressed network involved in the flavonoid pathway indicated that chalcone synthase (CHS), naringenin 3-dioxygenase (F3H), leucoanthocyanidin dioxygenase(ANS), and flavonol synthase (FLS) play critical roles in regulating the formation of flavonols and anthocyanidin. Based on the gene expression analysis of the carotenoid and flavonoid pathways, and determinations of the pigments, we speculate that the high expression of PSY and CrtZ ensures the production of adequate levels of carotenoids, while the expression of CHS, FLS ensures the production of flavonols. The golden yellow color is then the result of the accumulation of carotenoids and flavonol glucosides in the petals. This study of the mechanism of color formation in golden camellia points the way to breeding strategies that exploit gene technology approaches to increase the content of carotenoids and flavonol glucosides and to decrease anthocyanidin synthesis.

Dataset Information

Functional Diversification of the Dihydroflavonol 4-Reductase from Camellia nitidissima Chi. in the Control of Polyphenol Biosynthesis.

Publications

Functional Diversification of the Dihydroflavonol 4-Reductase from <i>Camellia nitidissima</i> Chi. in the Control of Polyphenol Biosynthesis.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets