Metabolic engineering of p‐hydroxybenzylglucosinolate in Arabidopsis by expression of the cyanogenic CYP79A1 from Sorghum bicolor

• Published in: The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology Vol. 20; no. 6; pp. 663 - 671
• Main Authors: Bak, Søren, Olsen, Carl Erik, Petersen, Bent Larsen, Møller, Birger Lindberg, Halkier, Barbara Ann
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Science Ltd 01.12.1999; Blackwell Science
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis - metabolism; Arabidopsis thaliana; Biological and medical sciences; CYP79A1 protein; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System - genetics; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System - metabolism; cytochrome P450; Economic plant physiology; Edible Grain - genetics; Edible Grain - metabolism; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Expression; Genes, Plant; Genetic Engineering; glucosides; glucosinolates; Glucosinolates - biosynthesis; metabolic engineering; Metabolism; Metabolism. Physicochemical requirements; Nitrogen metabolism and other ones (excepting carbon metabolism); Nutrition. Photosynthesis. Respiration. Metabolism; p-hydroxybenzylglucosinolate; Plant physiology and development; Plants, Genetically Modified; Sorghum bicolor; Monocotyledones; Glucosinolate; Biosynthesis; Metabolic pathway; Cyanogenic glucoside; Cereal crop; Biological activity; Arabidopsis thaliana; Sorghum bicolor; Cruciferae; Gramineae; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Spermatophyta; Genetic engineering; Transgenic plant; Experimental plant
• ISSN: 0960-7412; 1365-313X
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-313X.1999.00642.x

Summary Glucosinolates are natural products in cruciferous plants, including Arabidopsis thaliana. CYP79A1 is the cytochrome P450 catalysing the conversion of tyrosine to p‐hydroxyphenylacetaldoxime in the biosynthesis of the cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin in sorghum. Both glucosinolates and cyanogenic glucosides have oximes as intermediates. Expression of CYP79A1 in A. thaliana results in the production of high levels of the tyrosine‐derived glucosinolate p‐hydroxybenzylglucosinolate, which is not a natural constituent of A. thaliana. This provides further evidence that the enzymes have low substrate specificity with respect to the side chain. The ability of the cyanogenic CYP79A1 to integrate itself into the glucosinolate pathway has important implications for an evolutionary relationship between cyanogenic glucosides and glucosinolates, and for the possibility of genetic engineering of novel glucosinolates.