title: Tropane alkaloids production in transgenic Hyoscyamus niger hairy root cultures over-expressing putrescine N-methyltransferase is methyl jasmonate-dependent.
abstract: The cDNA from Nicotiana tabacum encoding Putrescine N-methyltransferase (PMT), which catalyzes the first committed step in the biosynthesis of tropane alkaloids, has been introduced into the genome of a scopolamine-producing Hyoscyamus niger mediated by the disarmed Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain C58C1, which also carries Agrobacterium rhizogenes Ri plasmid pRiA4, and expressed under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter. Hairy root lines transformed with pmt presented fivefold higher PMT activity than the control, and the methylputrescine (MPUT) levels of the resulting engineered hairy roots increased four to fivefold compared to the control and wild-type roots, but there was no significant increase in tropane alkaloids. However, after methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment, a considerable increase of PMTase and endogenous H6Hase as well as an increase in scopolamine content was found either in the transgenic hairy roots or the control. The results indicate that hairy root lines over-expressing pmt have a high capacity to synthesize MPUT, whereas their ability to convert hyoscyamine into scopolamine is very limited. Exposure to MeJA strongly stimulated both polyamine and tropane biosynthesis pathways and elicitation led to more or less enhanced production simultaneously.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan-SJTU-Nottingham Plant Biotechnology R&D Center, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Beibei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Guoyin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kai
authors.forename: Zinan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Ruxian
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Hanming
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiaofen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Wansheng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Kexuan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000085:Acetates / Q000378:metabolism*; D046508:Culture Techniques; D003517:Cyclopentanes / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D032304:Hyoscyamus / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D054883:Oxylipins; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000378:metabolism; D011073:Polyamines / Q000378:metabolism; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D014326:Tropanes / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000085:Acetates; D003517:Cyclopentanes; D054883:Oxylipins; D011073:Polyamines; D014326:Tropanes; C072239:methyl jasmonate; D008780:Methyltransferases; C112598:putrescine N-methyltransferase