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Accumulation of hydroxycinnamic acid amides induced by pathogen infection and identification of agmatine coumaroyltransferase in Arabidopsis thaliana

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Abstract

Hydroxycinnamic acid amides (HCAAs) are secondary metabolites involved in the defense of plants against pathogens. Here, we report the first identification of HCAAs, p-coumaroylagmatine, feruloylagmatine, p-coumaroylputrescine and feruloylputrescine, in Arabidopsis thaliana rosette leaves infected with Alternaria brassicicola and the assignment of At5g61160 as the agmatine coumaroyltransferase (AtACT) that catalyzes the last reaction in the biosynthesis of the HCAAs. Feeding experiments with putative labeled precursors revealed that the four HCAAs were synthesized from hydroxycinnamic acids and agmatine or putrescine. AtACT gene function was identified from an analysis of a mutant that did not accumulate HCAAs. In wild-type Arabidopsis, AtACT transcripts markedly increased in response to A. brassicicola infection. Enzymatic activity that catalyzes the synthesis of the HCAAs was confirmed in vitro by using a recombinant AtACT expressed in Escherichia coli. The Atact mutant was susceptible to infection by A. brassicicola, indicating that HCAAs are responsible for defense against pathogens in A. thaliana.

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Abbreviations

HCAA:

Hydroxycinnamic acid amide

CouAgm:

p-Coumaroylagmatine

FerAgm:

Feruloylagmatine

CouPtr:

p-Coumaroylputrescine

FerPtr:

Feruloylputrescine

ACT:

Agmatine coumaroyltransferase

AtACT:

Arabidopsis thaliana agmatine coumaroyltransferase

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Radioisotope Research Center, Kyoto University, for instrumental support with the radioisotope experiments. This work was partly supported by Grants-in-aid for Scientific Research (No. 18380066 to T.N. and No. 21580126 to A.I.) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Applied Biosciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Atsushi Muroi

  2. Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, Tottori, 680-8553, Japan

    Atsushi Ishihara

  3. Division of Environmental Science and Technology, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Chihiro Tanaka

  4. Division of Applied Life Sciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Akihiro Ishizuka & Hideto Miyoshi

  5. Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Otsu, 520-2113, Japan

    Junji Takabayashi

  6. Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, Tsuruoka, 997-0035, Japan

    Takaaki Nishioka

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  1. Atsushi Muroi
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  2. Atsushi Ishihara
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  3. Chihiro Tanaka
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  4. Akihiro Ishizuka
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Correspondence to Atsushi Ishihara.

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Muroi, A., Ishihara, A., Tanaka, C. et al. Accumulation of hydroxycinnamic acid amides induced by pathogen infection and identification of agmatine coumaroyltransferase in Arabidopsis thaliana . Planta 230, 517–527 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-009-0960-0

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