Abstract
Isoflavones are known to possess medicinal properties and implicated in plant–pathogen interaction. We have for the first time isolated and functionally characterized an isoflavones synthase (IFS) gene from a traditionally acclaimed medicinal plant Psoralea corylifolia abundantly growing in tropical and subtropical regions. The IFS catalyzes the exclusive reaction of phenylpropanoid pathway in leguminous plants to produce isoflavones. The full-length cDNA (PcIFS) of the gene comprised 1,563 bp and putatively encodes a polypeptide of 520 amino acid residues. The gene is expressed ubiquitously although at varying levels in different parts of the plant. The expression analysis suggests that the gene is responsive to methyl jasmonate, salicylic acid and wounding. Overexpression of PcIFS in non-leguminous tobacco plant led to the accumulation of isoflavones in petal tissue, suggesting it a functional gene from P. corylifolia involved in isoflavones biosynthesis.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to Director, National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow for providing necessary facilities for carrying out this work. PKT acknowledges the DST, Government of India for providing financial assistance in the form of DST Young Scientist Fast Track Project. PM acknowledges Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi for Junior and Senior Research Fellowships.
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Communicated by M. Petersen.
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Misra, P., Pandey, A., Tewari, S.K. et al. Characterization of isoflavone synthase gene from Psoralea corylifolia: a medicinal plant. Plant Cell Rep 29, 747–755 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-010-0861-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-010-0861-5