Unser 10. Leibniz Plant Biochemistry Symposium am 7. und 8. Mai war ein großer Erfolg. Thematisch ging es in diesem Jahr um neue Methoden und Forschungsansätze der Naturstoffchemie. Die exzellenten Vorträge über Wirkstoffe…
Omanische Heilpflanze im Fokus der Phytochemie IPB-Wissenschaftler und Partner aus Dhofar haben jüngst die omanische Heilpflanze Terminalia dhofarica unter die phytochemische Lupe genommen. Die Pflanze ist reich an…
Geschmack ist vorhersagbar: Mit FlavorMiner. FlavorMiner heißt das Tool, das IPB-Chemiker und Partner aus Kolumbien jüngst entwickelt haben. Das Programm kann, basierend auf maschinellem Lernen (KI), anhand der…
In order to analyse the amino acid determinants which alter the positional specificity of plant lipoxygenases (LOXs), multiple LOX sequence alignments and structural modelling of the enzyme-substrate interactions were carried out. These alignments suggested three amino acid residues as the primary determinants of positional specificity. Here we show the generation of two plant LOXs with new positional specificities, a Δ-linoleneate 6-LOX and an arachidonate 11-LOX, by altering only one of these determinants within the active site of two plant LOXs. In the past, site-directed-mutagenesis studies have mainly been carried out with mammalian lipoxygenases (LOXs) [1]. In these experiments two regions have been identified in the primary structure containing sequence determinants for positional specificity. Amino acids aligning with the Sloane determinants [2] are highly conserved among plant LOXs. In contrast, there is amino acid hetero-geneity among plant LOXs at the position that aligns with P353 of the rabbit reticulocyte 15-LOX (Borngräber determinants) [3].
Publikation
Royo, J.; León, J.; Vancanneyt, G.; Albar, J. P.; Rosahl, S.; Ortego, F.; Castañera, P.; Sánchez-Serrano, J. J.;Antisense-mediated depletion of a potato lipoxygenase reduces wound induction of proteinase inhibitors and increases weight gain of insect pestsProc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.961146-1151(1999)DOI: 10.1073/pnas.96.3.1146
De novo jasmonic acid (JA) synthesis is required for wound-induced expression of proteinase inhibitors and other defense genes in potato and tomato. The first step in JA biosynthesis involves lipoxygenase (LOX) introducing molecular oxygen at the C-13 position of linolenic acid. We previously have shown that, in potato, at least two gene families code for 13-LOX proteins. We have now produced transgenic potato plants devoid of one specific 13-LOX isoform (LOX-H3) through antisense-mediated depletion of its mRNA. LOX-H3 depletion largely abolishes accumulation of proteinase inhibitors on wounding, indicating that this specific LOX plays an instrumental role in the regulation of wound-induced gene expression. As a consequence, weight gain of Colorado potato beetles fed on antisense plants is significantly larger than those fed on wild-type plants. The poorer performance of LOX-H3-deficient plants toward herbivory is more evident with a polyphagous insect; larvae of beet armyworm reared on the antisense lines have up to 57% higher weight than those fed on nontransformed plants. LOX-H3 thus appears to regulate gene activation in response to pest attack, and this inducible response is likely to be a major determinant for reducing performance of nonspecialized herbivores. However, the regulatory role of LOX-H3 is not caused by its involvement in the wound-induced increase of JA, as wild-type and LOX-H3 deficient plants have similar jasmonate levels after wounding. LOX-H3-deficient plants have higher tuber yields. The apparent effect of suppressing the inducible defensive response on plant vigor suggests that it may pose a penalty in plant fitness under nonstress situations.