Plant Physiol. Drug Metab Dispos
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Plant Physiology Preview
Published on January 24, 2008; 10.1104/pp.107.110544

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (Plant Physiology Preview (PDF))
Right arrow Supplemental Data
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
146/3/1075    most recent
pp.107.110544v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sasaki, K.
Right arrow Articles by Yazaki, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Sasaki, K.
Right arrow Articles by Yazaki, K.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Sasaki, K.
Right arrow Articles by Yazaki, K.

Received October 8, 2007
Accepted January 13, 2008

Cloning and characterization of naringenin 8-prenyltransferase, a flavonoid-specific prenyltransferase of Sophora flavescens

Kanako Sasaki , Kouji Mito , Kazuaki Ohara , Hirobumi Yamamoto , and Kazufumi Yazaki *

Laboratory of Plant Gene Expression, Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji 611-0011, Japan; Plant Regulation Research Center, Faculty of Life Sciences, Toyo University, 1-1-1 Izumino, Itakura-machi, Oura, Gunma 374-0193, Japan

* Corresponding author; email: yazaki{at}rish.kyoto-u.ac.jp.

Prenylated flavonoids are natural compounds that often represent the active components in various medicinal plants and exhibit beneficial effects on human health. Prenylated flavonoids are hybrid products composed of a flavonoid core mainly attached to either 5-carbon (dimethylallyl) or 10-carbon (geranyl) prenyl groups derived from isoprenoid (terpenoid) metabolism, and the prenyl groups are crucial for their biological activity. Prenylation reactions in vivo are crucial coupling processes of two major metabolic pathways, the shikimate-acetate and isoprenoid pathways, in which these reactions are also known as a rate-limiting step. However, none of the genes responsible for the prenylation of flavonoids have been identified despite more than 30 years of research in this field. We have isolated a prenyltransferase gene from Sophora flavescens, SfN8DT-1, responsible for the prenylation of the flavonoid naringenin at the 8-position, which is specific for flavanones and dimethylallyl diphosphate as substrates. Phylogenetic analysis shows that SfN8DT-1 has the same evolutionary origin as prenyltransferases for vitamin E and plastoquinone. The gene expression of SfN8DT-1 is strictly limited to the root bark where prenylated flavonoids are solely accumulated in planta. The ectopic expression of SfN8DT-1 in Arabidopsis thaliana resulted in the formation of prenylated apigenin, quercetin, and kaempferol, as well as 8-prenylnaringenin. SfN8DT-1 represents the first flavonoid-specific prenyltransferase identified in plants and paves the way for the identification and characterization of further genes responsible for the production of this large and important class of secondary metabolites.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Plant Physiol.Home page
G. Wang, L. Tian, N. Aziz, P. Broun, X. Dai, J. He, A. King, P. X. Zhao, and R. A. Dixon
Terpene Biosynthesis in Glandular Trichomes of Hop
Plant Physiology, November 1, 2008; 148(3): 1254 - 1266.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
ASPB Publications PLANT PHYSIOLOGY THE PLANT CELL
Copyright © 2008 by the American Society of Plant Biologists