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Biosynthesis and Gene Regulation of Plant Secondary Metabolic Engineering

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A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Plant Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 5415

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Prof. Dr. Zhezhi Wang

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Guest Editor

National Engineering Laboratory for Resource Development of Endangered Chinese Crude Drugs in Northwest of China, Xi’an 710119, China
Interests: Chinese medicine biotechnology; new variety breeding and cultivation; secondary metabolites biosynthesis regulation and metabolic engineering; cloning and functional analysis of important functional genes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The plant kingdom produces a huge array of secondary metabolites during development and in response to developmental, environmental, pathogen and symbiont signals. The rich varieties of plant secondary metabolites form a natural drug storage, which provides us with an excellent material basis for treating diseases that may break out at present or even in the future, and is the common wealth that human beings must constantly protect. However, not every plant secondary metabolite synthesis pathway is clear, and it is usually difficult for us to completely know the specific catalytic enzyme of each reaction in the whole metabolic pathway. Transcription factors are proteins that regulate gene activity by binding to motifs within genes (usually in gene promoters) in a sequence-specific manner, and modulate the rate of transcriptional initiation by the basal transcription machinery that includes RNA polymerase II. Therefore, it is necessary to study biosynthetic regulation and metabolic engineering of secondary metabolites.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

Study on key enzyme genes of biosynthetic pathway;
Physiological functions of plant secondary metabolism;
Relationship between plant secondary metabolism and environment;
Regulation of plant secondary metabolism by genetic engineering.

Prof. Dr. Zhezhi Wang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

key enzyme gene
biosynthesis
secondary metabolite
biotic and abiotic stress
regulation

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 58190 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Functional Characterization of AP2/ERF Transcription Factors during Flower Development and Anthocyanin Biosynthesis Related Candidate Genes in Lycoris

by Zhong Wang, Guowei Song, Fengjiao Zhang, Xiaochun Shu and Ning Wang

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(19), 14464; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241914464 - 23 Sep 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1147

Abstract

The APETALA2/ethylene-responsive transcription factor (AP2/ERF) family has been extensively investigated because of its significant involvement in plant development, growth, fruit ripening, metabolism, and plant stress responses. To date, there has been little investigation into how the AP2/ERF genes influence flower formation and anthocyanin biosynthesis in Lycoris. Herein, 80 putative LrAP2/ERF transcription factors (TFs) with complete open reading frames (ORFs) were retrieved from the Lycoris transcriptome sequence data, which could be divided into five subfamilies dependent on their complete protein sequences. Furthermore, our findings demonstrated that genes belonging to the same subfamily had structural similarities and conserved motifs. LrAP2/ERF genes were analyzed for playing an important role in plant growth, water deprivation, and flower formation by means of gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis. The expression pattern of the LrAP2/ERF genes differed across tissues and might be important for Lycoris growth and flower development. In response to methyl jasmonate (MeJA) exposure and drought stress, the expression of each LrAP2/ERF gene varied across tissues and time. Moreover, a total of 20 anthocyanin components were characterized using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS) analysis, and pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside-5-O-arabinoside was identified as the major anthocyanin aglycone responsible for the coloration of the red petals in Lycoris. In addition, we mapped the relationships between genes and metabolites and found that LrAP2/ERF16 is strongly linked to pelargonidin accumulation in Lycoris petals. These findings provide the basic conceptual groundwork for future research into the molecular underpinnings and regulation mechanisms of AP2/ERF TFs in anthocyanin accumulation and Lycoris floral development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosynthesis and Gene Regulation of Plant Secondary Metabolic Engineering)

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15 pages, 6769 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Systematic Identification and Functional Analysis of the Hypericum perforatum L. bZIP Gene Family Indicating That Overexpressed HpbZIP69 Enhances Drought Resistance

by Ruyi Xiao, Yan Sun, Shu Yang, Yixiao Yang, Donghao Wang, Zhezhi Wang and Wen Zhou

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(18), 14238; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241814238 - 18 Sep 2023

Viewed by 904

Abstract

Basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factors play significant roles in plants’ growth and development processes, as well as in response to biological and abiotic stresses. Hypericum perforatum is one of the world’s top three best-selling herbal medicines, mainly used to treat depression. However, there has been no systematic identification or functional analysis of the bZIP gene family in H. perforatum. In this study, 79 HpbZIP genes were identified. Based on phylogenetic analysis, the HpbZIP gene family was divided into ten groups, designated A–I and S. The physicochemical properties, gene structures, protein conserved motifs, and Gene Ontology enrichments of all HpbZIPs were systematically analyzed. The expression patterns of all genes in different tissues of H. perforatum (i.e., root, stem, leaf, and flower) were analyzed by qRT-PCR, revealing the different expression patterns of HpbZIP under abiotic stresses. The HpbZIP69 protein is localized in the nucleus. According to the results of the yeast one-hybrid (Y1H) assays, HpbZIP69 can bind to the HpASMT2 (N-acetylserotonin O-methyltransferase) gene promoter (G-box cis-element) to activate its activity. Overexpressing HpbZIP69 in Arabidopsis wild-type lines enhanced their tolerance to drought. The MDA and H₂O₂ contents were significantly decreased, and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) was considerably increased under the drought stress. These results may aid in additional functional studies of HpbZIP transcription factors, and in cultivating drought-resistant medicinal plants. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosynthesis and Gene Regulation of Plant Secondary Metabolic Engineering)

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20 pages, 4039 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Synergistic Effects of Environmental and Genetic Factors on the Regulation of Anthocyanin Accumulation in Plant Tissues

by Van Giap Do, Youngsuk Lee, Jeong-Hee Kim, Young-Soon Kwon, Jong-Taek Park, Sangjin Yang, Juhyeon Park, Nay Myo Win and Seonae Kim

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(16), 12946; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241612946 - 18 Aug 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1231

Abstract

Anthocyanin accumulation is responsible for the coloration of apple fruit, and their accumulation depends on the expression of anthocyanin biosynthesis-related genes. Light is an environmental stimulus that induces fruit color by regulating genes involved in the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway. In this study, the roles of light and genetic factors on fruit coloration and anthocyanin accumulation in apple fruit were investigated. Three genes in the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway, MdCHS, MdANS, and MdUFGT1, were synthesized and cloned into a viral-based expression vector system for transient expression in ‘Ruby S’ apple fruits. Apple fruits were agroinfiltrated with expression vectors harboring MdCHS, MdANS, and MdUFGT1. Agroinfiltrated apple fruits were then either kept in the dark (bagged fruits) or exposed to light (exposed fruits). The agroinfiltrated fruits showed significantly different coloration patterns, transcript expression levels, and anthocyanin accumulation compared to the control fruits. Moreover, these parameters were higher in exposed fruits than in bagged fruits. For stable expression, MdCHS was introduced into a binary vector under the control of the rice α-amylase 3D (RAmy3D) promoter. The ectopic overexpression of MdCHS in transgenic rice calli showed a high accumulation of anthocyanin content. Taken together, our findings suggest that light, together with the overexpression of anthocyanin biosynthesis genes, induced the coloration and accumulation of anthocyanin content in apple fruits by upregulating the expression of the genes involved in the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosynthesis and Gene Regulation of Plant Secondary Metabolic Engineering)

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15 pages, 2592 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Genome-Wide Identification of the Hypericum perforatum WRKY Gene Family Implicates HpWRKY85 in Drought Resistance

by Wen Zhou, Shu Yang, Lei Yang, Ruyi Xiao, Shiyi Chen, Donghao Wang, Shiqiang Wang and Zhezhi Wang

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(1), 352; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24010352 - 26 Dec 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1742

Abstract

WRKY, named for its special heptapeptide conserved sequence WRKYGOK, is one of the largest transcription factor families in plants and is widely involved in plant responses to biotic, abiotic, and hormonal stresses, especially the important regulatory function in response to drought stress. However, there is no complete comprehensive analysis of this family in H. perforatum, which is one of the most extensively studied plants and is probably the best-known herbal medicine on the market today, serving as an antidepressant, neuroprotective, an antineuralgic, and an antiviral. Here, we identified 86 HpWRKY genes according to the whole genome database of H. perforatum, and classified them into three groups through phylogenetic analysis. Gene structure, conserved domain, motif, cis-elements, gene ontology, and expression profiling were performed. Furthermore, it was found that HpWRKY85, a homologous gene of AtWRKY75, showed obvious responses to drought treatment. Subcellular localization analysis indicated that this protein was localized in the nucleus by the Arabidopsis protoplasts transient transfection. Meanwhile, HpWRKY85-overexpressing Arabidopsis plants showed a stronger ability of root growth and scavenging endogenous reactive oxygen species. The results provide a reference for further understanding the role of HpWRKY85 in the molecular mechanism of drought resistance of H. perforatum. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosynthesis and Gene Regulation of Plant Secondary Metabolic Engineering)

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