title: Heterologous expression of AtMYB12 in kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) leads to high flavonol accumulation.
abstract: Overexpression of Arabidopsis AtMYB12 transcription factor greatly increases the total phenolic and flavonol content in transgenic kale leaves. Flavonoids are a diverse group of plant secondary metabolites exhibiting a number of health-promoting effects. There has been a growing interest to develop biotechnological methods for the enhanced production of flavonoids in crop plants. AtMYB12 is an Arabidopsis transcription factor which specifically activates flavonol synthesis and its overexpression has led to increased flavonol accumulation in several transgenic plants. In the present study, AtMYB12 was overexpressed in a commercial cultivar of kale and the transgenic plants were tested both in in vitro and in semi-field conditions in cages under natural light. Using this method, a severalfold increase in both total phenolics content and flavonol accumulation was achieved. This study provides a reliable and efficient transformation protocol for kale and suggests the potential of this flavonol-enriched vegetable for the production of kaempferol.
authors.affiliation: BioCarelia Research Laboratory, Juurikantie 45, 82580, Juurikka, Finland, mika@biocarelia.com.
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lännenpää
mesh_terms: D060054:Agrobacterium; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001937:Brassica / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D044948:Flavonols / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D044949:Kaempferols / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D060847:Metabolic Engineering; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010636:Phenols / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014170:Transformation, Genetic; D019076:Transgenes; D014675:Vegetables
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D044948:Flavonols; D044949:Kaempferols; C504539:MYB12 protein, Arabidopsis; D010636:Phenols; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C006552:kaempferol