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Downregulation of terpenoid indole alkaloid biosynthetic pathway by low temperature and cloning of a AP2 type C-repeat binding factor (CBF) from Catharanthus roseus (L). G. Don

  • Physiology and Biochemistry
  • Published:
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Abstract

Plants produce secondary metabolites in response to various external signals. Coordinated transcriptional control of biosynthetic genes emerges as a major mechanism dictating the accumulation of secondary metabolites in plant cells. However, information about stress regulation of secondary metabolites and the molecular mechanisms regulating these specialized pathways are poorly understood. Here, we show that terpenoid indole alkaloid (TIA) biosynthetic pathway is differentially regulated in response to different abiotic stresses in Catharanthus roseus, a model medicinal plant producing important anticancer and antihypertensive drugs. Semiquantitative RT-PCR analysis of TIA and related primary pathway genes in response to dehydration, low temperature, salinity, UV-light and wounding revealed their negative regulation in response to low temperature. HPLC analysis further supports the notion that TIA biosynthetic pathway is negatively controlled by low temperature stress. Furthermore, we report the cloning of a C-repeat binding transcription factor from C. roseus (CrCbf), belonging to AP2 class of transcription factor and possessed the NLS and CBF signature s equence characteristic of CBFs. CrCbf was found to be similar to Brassica Cbfs, whereas it was distant to monocot Cbfs. Southern analysis of CrCbf revealed the presence of more than one copy of CrCbf gene or other Cbf homologues in C. roseus genome. The transcription of CrCbf was found to be constitutive in response to low temperature but it showed differential distribution. The need for identifying novel transcription factors in understanding secondary metabolite biosynthesis is discussed.

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Abbreviations

AP2:

Apetala 2

CBF:

c-Repeat binding factor

ERF:

Ethylene responsive factor

HPLC:

High performance liquid chromatography

MeJA:

Methyl ester of jasmonic acid

MEP:

2-C-methyl-d-erythritol-4-phosphate

ORCA:

Octadecanoid-derivative responsive Catharanthus AP2-domain protein

RT-PCR:

Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction

TIA:

Terpenoid indole alkaloid

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Acknowledgement

AD acknowledges Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India for the award of senior research fellowship. This work was supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. AD pay her tribute and dedicate this paper to Dr Jayanti Sen, who unfortunately passed away before this work was published.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Molecular Physiology and Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India

    Ajaswrata Dutta & Renu Deswal

  2. National Centre for Plant Genome Research, P. O. Box 10531, Jawaharlal Nehru University Campus, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, 110 067, India

    Ajaswrata Dutta & Jayanti Sen

Authors
  1. Ajaswrata Dutta
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  2. Jayanti Sen
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  3. Renu Deswal
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Renu Deswal.

Additional information

Communicated by P. Lakshmanan.

This paper is dedicated to inspirational memory of Dr. Jayanti Sen. The cDNA sequence of CrCbf have been submitted to Genbank under the accession number DQ989629.

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Dutta, A., Sen, J. & Deswal, R. Downregulation of terpenoid indole alkaloid biosynthetic pathway by low temperature and cloning of a AP2 type C-repeat binding factor (CBF) from Catharanthus roseus (L). G. Don. Plant Cell Rep 26, 1869–1878 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-007-0383-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-007-0383-y

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