Abstract
The function of an Arabidopsis thaliana gene, At5g54160 annotated as a caffeic acid O-methyltransferase CAOMT gene was characterized. The recombinant enzyme of this gene (AtOMT1) catalyzed the O-methylation of phenylpropanoid and flavonoid substrates. The specificity constants (k cat/K m) for 5-hydroxyconiferaldehyde (5-HCAld) and quercetin were both 0.11 μM−1·min−1. On the other hand, lignins of At5g54160-knockout Arabidopsis mutants lacked syringyl units. In addition, we showed that the gene silencing also resulted in significant accumulation of caffeyl alcohol (CaAlc). These results strongly suggested that At5g54160 gene is involved in syringyl lignin synthesis for the methylation of both 5-hydroxyconiferaldehyde and 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl compound(s).
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Higuchi T (1985) Biosynthesis of lignin. In: Higuchi T (ed) Biosynthesis and biodegradation of wood components. Academic, Orlando, pp 141–160
Osakabe K, Tsao CC, Li L, Popko JL, Umezawa T, Garraway DT, Smeltzer RH, Joshi CP, Chiang VL (1999) Coniferyl aldehyde 5-hydroxylation and methylation direct syringyl lignin biosynthesis in angiosperms. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96:8955–8960
Li L, Popko JL, Umezawa T, Chiang VL (2000) 5-Hydroxyconiferyl aldehyde modulates enzymatic methylation for syringyl monolignol formation, a new view of monolignol biosynthesis in angiosperms. J Biol Chem 275:6537–6545
Zhang H, Wang J, Goodman HM (1997) An Arabidopsis gene encoding a putative 14-3-3-interacting protein caffeic acid/5-hydroxyferulic acid O-methyltransferase. Biochem Biophys Acta 1353:199–202
Muzac I, Wang J, Anzellotti D, Zhang H, Ibrahim RK (2000) Functional expression of an Arabidopsis cDNA clone encoding a flavonol 3′-O-methyltransferase and characterization of the gene product. Arch Biochem Biophys 375:385–388
Goujon T, Sibout R, Pollet B, Maba B, Nussaume L, Bechtold N, Lu F, Ralph J, Mila I, Barriere Y, Lappierre C, Jouanin L (2003) A new Arabidopsis thaliana mutant defi cient in the expression of O-methyltransferase impacts lignin and sinapoyl esters. Plant Mol Biol 51:973–989
Bouktaib M, Lebrum S, Atmani A, Rolando C (2002) Hemisynthesis of all the O-monomethylated analogues of quercetin including the major metabolites, through selective protection of phenolic functions. Tetrahedron 58:10001–10009
Sakakibara N, Nakatsubo T, Suzuki S, Shibata D, Shimada M, Umezawa T (2007) Metabolic analysis of the cinnamate/monolignol pathway in Carthamus tinctorius seeds by a stable-isotopedilution method. Org Biomol Chem 5:802–815
Stockigt J, Zenk MH (1975) Chemical synthesis and properties of hydroxycinnamoyl Coenzyme A derivatives. Z Naturforsch 30: 352–358
Bradford MM (1976) A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal Biochem 72:248–254
Kai K, Shimizu BI, Mizutani M, Watanabe K, Sakata K (2006) Accumulation of coumarins in Arabidopsis thaliana. Phytochemistry 67:379–386
Hamada K, Tsutsumi Y, Yamauchi K, Fukushima K, Nishida T (2003) Treatment of poplar callus with ferulic and sinapic acids I: incorporation and enhancement of lignin biosynthesis. J Wood Sci 49:333–338
Li L, Cheng XF, Leshkevich J, Umezawa T, Harding SA, Chiang VL (2001) The last step of syringyl monolignol biosynthesis in angiosperms is regulated by a novel gene encoding sinapyl alcohol dehydrogenase. Plant Cell 13:1567–1585
Humphreys JM, Hemm MR, Chapple C (1999) New routes for lignin biosynthesis defined by biochemical characterization of recombinant ferulate 5-hydroxylase, a multifunctional cytochrome P450-dependent monooxygenase. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96: 10045–10050
Parvathi K, Chen F, Guo D, Blount JW, Dixon RA (2001) Substrate preferences of O-methyltransferases in alfalfa suggest new pathways for 3-O-methylation of monolignols. Plant J 25:193–202
Do CT, Pollet B, Thévenin J, Sibout R, Denoue D, Barriere Y, Lapierre C, Jouanin L (2007) Both caffeoyl Coenzyme A 3-O-methyltransferase 1 and caffeic acid O-methyltransferase 1 are involved in redundant functions for lignin, flavonoids and sinapoyl malate biosynthesis in Arabidopsis. Planta 226:1117–1129
Matsui N, Chen F, Yasuda S, Fukushima K (2000) Conversion of guaiacyl to syringyl moieties on the cinnamyl alcohol pathway during the biosynthesis of lignin in angiosperms. Planta 210: 831–835
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Part of this work was presented at the Annual Meeting of Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry, March 24–27, 2007
About this article
Cite this article
Nakatsubo, T., Kitamura, Y., Sakakibara, N. et al. At5g54160 gene encodes Arabidopsis thaliana 5-hydroxyconiferaldehyde O-methyltransferase. J Wood Sci 54, 312–317 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-008-0958-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-008-0958-4