title: RNA-seq discovery, functional characterization, and comparison of sesquiterpene synthases from Solanum lycopersicum and Solanum habrochaites trichomes.
abstract: Solanum lycopersicum and Solanum habrochaites (f. typicum) accession PI127826 emit a variety of sesquiterpenes. To identify terpene synthases involved in the production of these volatile sesquiterpenes, we used massive parallel pyrosequencing (RNA-seq) to obtain the transcriptome of the stem trichomes from these plants. This approach resulted initially in the discovery of six sesquiterpene synthase cDNAs from S. lycopersicum and five from S. habrochaites. Searches of other databases and the S. lycopersicum genome resulted in the discovery of two additional sesquiterpene synthases expressed in trichomes. The sesquiterpene synthases from S. lycopersicum and S. habrochaites have high levels of protein identity. Several of them appeared to encode for non-functional proteins. Functional recombinant proteins produced germacrenes, β-caryophyllene/α-humulene, viridiflorene and valencene from (E,E)-farnesyl diphosphate. However, the activities of these enzymes do not completely explain the differences in sesquiterpene production between the two tomato plants. RT-qPCR confirmed high levels of expression of most of the S. lycopersicum sesquiterpene synthases in stem trichomes. In addition, one sesquiterpene synthase was induced by jasmonic acid, while another appeared to be slightly repressed by the treatment. Our data provide a foundation to study the evolution of terpene synthases in cultivated and wild tomato.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Swammerdam Institute of Life Sciences, Science Park 904, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Petra M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Bleeker
authors.forename: Eleni A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Spyropoulou
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Diergaarde
authors.forename: Hanne
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Volpin
authors.forename: Michiel T J
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: De Both
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zerbe
authors.forename: Joerg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bohlmann
authors.forename: Vasiliki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Falara
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuba
authors.forename: Eran
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pichersky
authors.forename: Michel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Haring
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Schuurink
mesh_terms: D019883:Alkyl and Aryl Transferases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry; D015723:Gene Library; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000737:chemistry*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000378:metabolism; D032322:Solanum / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D010940:Plant Proteins; D018749:RNA, Plant; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; D019883:Alkyl and Aryl Transferases; C108877:terpene synthase