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Article

Functional Identification of Acetyl-CoA C-Acetyltransferase Gene from Fritillaria unibracteata

School of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Horticulturae 2025, 11(8), 913; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11080913 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 17 June 2025 / Revised: 24 July 2025 / Accepted: 1 August 2025 / Published: 4 August 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tolerance of Horticultural Plants to Abiotic Stresses)

Abstract

Fritillaria unibracteata is a rare and endangered medicinal plant in the Liliaceae family, whose bulbs have been used in traditional Chinese traditional medicine for over 2000 years. The mevalonate (MVA) pathway is involved in the growth, development, response to environmental stress, and active ingredient production of plants; however, the functional characterization of MVA-pathway genes in the Liliaceae family remains poorly documented. In this study, an Acetyl-CoA C-acetyltransferase gene (FuAACT) was first cloned from F. unibracteata. It exhibited structural features of the thiolase family and showed the highest sequence identity with the Dioscorea cayenensis homolog. The Km, Vmax, and Kcat of the recombinant FuAACT were determined to be 3.035 ± 0.215 μM, 0.128 ± 0.0058 μmol/(min·mg), and 1.275 ± 0.0575 min−1, respectively. The optimal catalytic conditions for FuAACT were ascertained to be 30 °C and pH 8.9. It was stable below 50 °C. His361 was confirmed to be a key amino acid residue to enzymatic catalysis by site-directed mutagenesis. Subsequent subcellular localization experiments demonstrated that FuAACT was localized in chloroplasts and cytoplasm. FuAACT-overexpressing transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants showed higher drought tolerance than wild-type plants. This phenotypic difference was corroborated by significant differences in seed germination rate, lateral root number, plant height, and leaf number (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the FuAACT transgenic plants resulted in the formation of a more developed fibrous root system. These results indicated that the FuAACT gene revealed substantial biological activity in vitro and in vivo, hopefully providing the basis for its further research and application in liliaceous ornamental and medicinal plants.
Keywords: Fritillaria unibracteata; acetyl-CoA C-acetyltransferase (AACT); functional identification Fritillaria unibracteata; acetyl-CoA C-acetyltransferase (AACT); functional identification

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MDPI and ACS Style

Ma, Z.; An, Q.; Huang, X.; Liu, H.; Guo, F.; Yan, H.; Zhou, J.; Liao, H. Functional Identification of Acetyl-CoA C-Acetyltransferase Gene from Fritillaria unibracteata. Horticulturae 2025, 11, 913. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11080913

AMA Style

Ma Z, An Q, Huang X, Liu H, Guo F, Yan H, Zhou J, Liao H. Functional Identification of Acetyl-CoA C-Acetyltransferase Gene from Fritillaria unibracteata. Horticulturae. 2025; 11(8):913. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11080913

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ma, Zichun, Qiuju An, Xue Huang, Hongting Liu, Feiying Guo, Han Yan, Jiayu Zhou, and Hai Liao. 2025. "Functional Identification of Acetyl-CoA C-Acetyltransferase Gene from Fritillaria unibracteata" Horticulturae 11, no. 8: 913. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11080913

APA Style

Ma, Z., An, Q., Huang, X., Liu, H., Guo, F., Yan, H., Zhou, J., & Liao, H. (2025). Functional Identification of Acetyl-CoA C-Acetyltransferase Gene from Fritillaria unibracteata. Horticulturae, 11(8), 913. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11080913

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