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BIOCHEMICAL PROCESSES AND MACROMOLECULAR STRUCTURES

Role of Petal-Specific Orcinol O-Methyltransferases in the Evolution of Rose Scent¹

Laboratoire Reproduction et Développement des Plantes, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5667 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique-Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, IFR128 Biosciences Lyon-Gerland (G.S., C.L., P.C., P.V., C.D., P.H.), and Département des Sciences de la Vie et de la Terre (M.L.B., L.D.), Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 69364 Lyon, France; Laboratoire de Biotechnologies Végétales Appliquées aux Plantes Aromatiques et Médicinales, Université Jean Monnet, 42023 Saint-Etienne, France (J.L.M., S.B., V.B., F.J.); and Unité Mixte de Recherche 7139 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Végétaux Marins et Biomolécules, 29682 Roscoff, France (J.M.C.)

Orcinol O-methyltransferase (OOMT) 1 and 2 catalyze the last two steps of the biosynthetic pathway leading to the phenolic methyl ether 3,5-dimethoxytoluene (DMT), the major scent compound of many rose (Rosa x hybrida) varieties. Modern roses are descended from both European and Chinese species, the latter being producers of phenolic methyl ethers but not the former. Here we investigated why phenolic methyl ether production occurs in some but not all rose varieties. In DMT-producing varieties, OOMTs were shown to be localized specifically in the petal, predominanty in the adaxial epidermal cells. In these cells, OOMTs become increasingly associated with membranes during petal development, suggesting that the scent biosynthesis pathway catalyzed by these enzymes may be directly linked to the cells' secretory machinery. OOMT gene sequences were detected in two non-DMT-producing rose species of European origin, but no mRNA transcripts were detected, and these varieties lacked both OOMT protein and enzyme activity. These data indicate that up-regulation of OOMT gene expression may have been a critical step in the evolution of scent production in roses.

² Present address: Syngenta Crop Protection Münschwilen AG, WST–540.2.51 Schaffhauserstrasse CH–4332 Stein, Switzerland.

³ Present address: Unité Mixte de Recherche Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 6204, Faculté des Sciences et des Techniques, 2 rue de la Houssinière, 44322 Nantes cedex 3, France.

The author responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions for Authors (www.plantphysiol.org) is: Philippe Hugueney (philippe.hugueney@ens-lyon.fr).

Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.105.070961.

^* Corresponding author; e-mail philippe.hugueney{at}ens-lyon.fr; fax 33–4–72728600.

Received September 2, 2005; returned for revision November 4, 2005; accepted November 4, 2005.

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