Progesterone: Its occurrence in plants and involvement in plant growth

• Published in: Phytochemistry (Oxford) Vol. 68; no. 12; pp. 1664 - 1673
• Main Authors: Iino, Mayumi, Nomura, Takahito, Tamaki, Yuji, Yamada, Yumiko, Yoneyama, Koichi, Takeuchi, Yasutomo, Mori, Masaki, Asami, Tadao, Nakano, Takeshi, Yokota, Takao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2007; Elsevier
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; amino acid sequences; Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis - growth & development; Arabidopsis - metabolism; Arabidopsis Proteins; Arabidopsis Proteins - chemistry; Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics; Arabidopsis Proteins - physiology; Arabidopsis thaliana; Biological and medical sciences; Carrier Proteins; Carrier Proteins - chemistry; Carrier Proteins - genetics; Carrier Proteins - physiology; Chemical constitution; chemistry; Cloning, Molecular; Conserved Sequence; Cruciferae; drug effects; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; gene expression regulation; genetics; Gramineae; growth & development; Leguminosae; Membrane steroid binding protein; Metabolism; Metabolism. Physicochemical requirements; molecular cloning; Molecular Sequence Data; Occurrence of progesterone; Oryza; Oryza - genetics; Oryza - metabolism; Oryza sativa; peas; pharmacology; Phylogeny; physiology; Pisum sativum; plant biochemistry; plant growth; Plant Growth Regulators; Plant Growth Regulators - metabolism; Plant Growth Regulators - pharmacology; Plant Growth Regulators - physiology; Plant physiology and development; plant proteins; Plant Proteins - chemistry; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - physiology; progesterone; Progesterone - chemistry; Progesterone - pharmacology; Progesterone - physiology; Progesterone-binding protein; rice; seedling growth; Seedlings; Seedlings - drug effects; Seedlings - growth & development; Seedlings - metabolism; Sequence Alignment; Steroid; vegetative growth; Arabidopsis thaliana; Steroid; Oryza sativa; Occurrence of progesterone; Leguminosae; Progesterone-binding protein; Cruciferae; Gramineae; Pisum sativum; Membrane steroid binding protein; Plant tissue; Monocotyledones; Oryza saliva; Growth; Gibberellin; Seedlings; Binding protein; Gene; Dicotyledones; Light; Angiospermae; Spermatophyta; Mutation; Progesterone
• ISSN: 0031-9422; 1873-3700
• DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2007.04.002

Progesterone was identified from a variety of plants, while several genes encoding putative progesterone-binding proteins were found to be expressed in various tissues of Arabidopsis thaliana and rice. Furthermore, progesterone affected plant growth in some biological systems. These findings suggest that progesterone may be involved in plant growth. Progesterone is a mammalian gonadal hormone. In the current study, we identified and quantified progesterone in a range of higher plants by using GC–MS and examined its effects on the vegetative growth of plants. The growth of Arabidopsis ( Arabidopsis thaliana) seedlings was promoted by progesterone at low concentrations but suppressed at higher concentrations under both light and dark growth conditions. The growth of the gibberellin-deficient mutant lh of pea ( Pisum sativum) was also promoted by progesterone. An earlier study demonstrated that progesterone binds to MEMBRANE STEROID BINDING PROTEIN 1 (MSBP1) of Arabidopsis. In this work, we cloned the homologous genes of Arabidopsis, MSBP2 and STEROID BINDING PROTEIN ( SBP), as well as of rice ( Oryza sativa), OsMSBP1, OsMSBP2 and OsSBP and examined their expression in plant tissues. All of these genes, except OsMSBP1, were expressed abundantly in plant tissues. The roles of progesterone in plant growth were also discussed.