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Transcriptome analysis of alfalfa glandular trichomes

Planta volume 221, pages 28–38 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Glandular trichomes are a major site of plant natural product synthesis and accumulation for protection against insect predation. However, to date few studies have attempted to obtain a global view of trichome gene expression. Two contrasting approaches have been adopted to investigate genes expressed in glandular trichomes from alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). In the first approach, 5,674 clones from an alfalfa glandular trichome cDNA library were sequenced. The most highly abundant expressed sequence tag (EST) corresponded to a lipid transfer protein. The presence of ESTs corresponding to enzymes for all steps in the biosynthesis of flavonoids suggests that these are important metabolites in alfalfa trichome biology, as confirmed by histochemistry and metabolite profiling. No ESTs corresponded to enzymes of cyclized terpenoid biosynthesis. In a second approach, microarray analysis was used to compare levels of alfalfa transcripts corresponding to 16,086 Medicago truncatula A17 genes in stems with and without trichomes. This revealed over 1,000 genes with strong preferential expression in the trichome fraction of the stem, 70% of which are of unknown function. These define a class of genes that are not trichome-specific, since M. truncatula A17 does not itself have glandular trichomes, but has potential importance for trichome function within the stem.

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Abbreviations

EST:

Expressed sequence tag

LTP:

Lipid transfer protein

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Stephen Temple, Forage Genetics International, for provision of glandular-haired alfalfa lines and helpful discussions, Jack Blount and Corey Broeckling for assistance with HPLC and GC analysis, respectively, Dr Yuanji Zhang for assistance with bioinformatics, Dr David Galbraith (University of Arizona) for printing of microarrays, and Drs Li Tian and Mary Sledge for critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation.

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Author notes

  1. Nancy L. Paiva

    Present address: Department of Physical Sciences, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, 1405 N. 4th, PMB 4215, Durant, OK, 74701, USA

Affiliations

  1. Plant Biology Division, Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, 2510 Sam Noble Parkway, Ardmore, OK, 73401, USA

    Naveed Aziz, Nancy L. Paiva, Gregory D. May & Richard A. Dixon

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  1. Naveed Aziz
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  2. Nancy L. Paiva
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  4. Richard A. Dixon
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Correspondence to Richard A. Dixon.

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Data deposition

The alfalfa trichome EST sequences reported in this paper have been deposited in the GenBank database (accession nos. CO511688 to CO517334).

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Aziz, N., Paiva, N.L., May, G.D. et al. Transcriptome analysis of alfalfa glandular trichomes. Planta 221, 28–38 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-004-1424-1

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Keywords

  • EST sequencing
  • Flavonoid
  • Glandular trichome
  • Insect resistance
  • Medicago truncatula
  • Microarray analysis