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Functional characterization of ZmTPS7 reveals a maize τ-cadinol synthase involved in stress response

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Abstract

Main conclusion

Maize ( Zea mays ) terpene synthase 7 (ZmTPS7) was characterized as a τ-cadinol synthase, which exhibited constitutive and inducible gene expression patterns, suggesting involvement in stress response.

Maize produces a variety of terpenoids involved in defense response. Despite some terpene synthases (TPSs) responsible for these terpenoids have been characterized, biosynthesis of many terpenes, particularly sesquiterpenes, which were produced in response to biotic or abiotic stress, remains largely unknown. Here, we characterized ZmTPS7 biochemically through recombinant expression in Escherichia coli and detected that it catalyzed formation of a blend of sesquiterpenes and sesquiterpenoid alcohols as the sesquiterpene synthase through GC–MS analysis. Subsequently, the major product was purified and identified as τ-cadinol through nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) analysis, which was also detected in maize tissues infected by pathogen fungus for the first time. ZmTPS7 constitutively expressed in aerial tissues while with trace amount of transcript in roots. Fungus spore inoculation and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment induced gene expression of ZmTPS7 in leaves, while exogenous ABA induced ZmTPS7 dramatically in roots, suggesting that ZmTPS7 might be involved in stress response. τ-cadinol was quantified in infected maize tissues with the concentration of ~200 ng/g fresh weight, however, which was much lower than the inhibitory one on two tested necrotrophic fungi. Such evidences indicate that anti-fungal activity of τ-cadinol is not physiologically relevant, and further investigation is needed to clarify its biological functions in maize. Taken together, ZmTPS7 was characterized as the τ-cadinol synthase and suggested to be involved in stress response, which also increased the diversity of maize terpenoid profile.

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Abbreviations

FPP:

Farnesyl pyrophosphate

GGPP:

Geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate

MeJA:

Methyl jasmonate

NMR:

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

TPS:

Terpene synthases

ZmTPS7:

Maize terpene synthase 7

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the fund for distinguished young scientists of Sichuan Province (2014JQ0038) and start-up fund from Sichuan Agricultural University to Q.W. We appreciate the help of Dr. Reuben Peters at Iowa State University for providing the plasmid pGG.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecological Agriculture, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, 611130, China

    Fei Ren, Hongjie Mao, Jin Liang, Jiang Liu, Kai Shu & Qiang Wang

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  1. Fei Ren
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  2. Hongjie Mao
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  3. Jin Liang
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  4. Jiang Liu
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  5. Kai Shu
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  6. Qiang Wang
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Correspondence to Qiang Wang.

Electronic supplementary material

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425_2016_2570_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Fig. S1 GC–MS analysis of ZmTPS7 minor products. Fig. S2 GC–MS analysis of ZmTPS7 activity with GGPP as the substrate. Table S1 Cis-element predication of 1.6-kb ZmTPS7 promoter. Fig. S3 Anti-fungal activity of (E)-β-caryophyllene, α-bisabolol and carbendazim on F. graminearum. Fig. S4 qRT-PCR analysis of ZmTPS7 expression in aboveground tissues with ABA treatment on roots (PDF 206 kb)

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Ren, F., Mao, H., Liang, J. et al. Functional characterization of ZmTPS7 reveals a maize τ-cadinol synthase involved in stress response. Planta 244, 1065–1074 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-016-2570-y

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