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Plant Physiol, September 2001, Vol. 127, pp. 46-57
Functional Conservation of Plant Secondary Metabolic Enzymes
Revealed by Complementation of Arabidopsis Flavonoid Mutants with Maize
Genes1
Xiaoyun
Dong,
Edward L.
Braun, and
Erich
Grotewold*
Department of Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology Center, The
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210
Mutations in the transparent testa
(tt) loci abolish pigment production in Arabidopsis seed
coats. The TT4, TT5, and
TT3 loci encode chalcone synthase, chalcone isomerase,
and dihydroflavonol 4-reductase, respectively, which are essential for
anthocyanin accumulation and may form a macromolecular complex. Here,
we show that the products of the maize (Zea mays)
C2, CHI1, and A1 genes complement Arabidopsis tt4, tt5, and
tt3 mutants, restoring the ability of these mutants to
accumulate pigments in seed coats and seedlings. Overexpression of the
maize genes in wild-type Arabidopsis seedlings does not result in
increased anthocyanin accumulation, suggesting that the steps catalyzed
by these enzymes are not rate limiting in the conditions assayed. The
expression of the maize A1 gene in the flavonoid 3'
hydroxylase Arabidopsis tt7 mutant resulted in an
increased accumulation of pelargonidin. We conclude that enzymes
involved in secondary metabolism can be functionally exchangeable
between plants separated by large evolutionary distances. This is in
sharp contrast to the notion that the more relaxed selective constrains
to which secondary metabolic pathways are subjected is responsible for
the rapid divergence of the corresponding enzymes.
1
This work was supported in part by the National
Science Foundation (grant nos. MCB-9974474 and MCB-9896111 to E.G.)
and by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (postdoctoral fellowship no. USDA 1999-01582 to E.L.B.).
*
Corresponding author; e-mail grotewold.1{at}osu.edu; fax
614-292-5379.
© 2001 American Society of Plant Physiologists
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