High content of resveratrol in lettuce transformed with a stilbene synthase gene of Parthenocissus henryana.
Resveratrol (trans-3,5,4'-trihydroxystilbene) is a plant phytoalexin which has positive effects on human health. Stilbene synthase (STS) is a key enzyme involved in resveratrol biosynthesis. To construct a vector for STS expression in lettuce plant, a cDNA-encoding STS of Parthenocissus henryana was fused to the Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter, and the bar gene was used as a selective marker gene. To increase the expression of STS, the expression cassette was flanked by MARs. In transgenic lettuce plants, an additional compound was identified as resveratrol by HPLC and ESI-MS. Quantitative analysis showed that the average content of resveratrol reached 56.40 +/- 5.52 microg/g leaf fresh weight, which was comparable to the amount in grape skin. Anticancer assay in HeLa cells revealed that apoptosis was induced by 200 microM of resveratrol extracted from transgenic lettuce.
Liu
Shujun
S
College of Life Science, National Key Laboratory of Protein Engineering, and Plant Genetic Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Hu
Yuanlei
Y
Wang
Xiaoli
X
Zhong
Jin
J
Lin
Zhongping
Z
D000217:Acyltransferases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D006367:HeLa Cells / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D018545:Lactuca / Q000737:chemistry*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000737:chemistry*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D000077185:Resveratrol; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013267:Stilbenes / Q000032:analysis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D014162:Transfection; D027844:Vitaceae / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics
D013267:Stilbenes; D000217:Acyltransferases; C022674:stilbene synthase; D000077185:Resveratrol