Abstract
The mevalonate (MVA) pathway is responsible for the biosynthesis of cytosolic terpenes including gossypol and its derivatives, which play an important role in the cotton plant’s defense against pathogens and herbivores. In this study, we identified and cloned 17 potentially functional genes encoding enzymes that catalyze the six steps of the MVA pathway in Gossypium arboreum. Expression pattern analysis by qRT-PCR demonstrated that these genes had tissue-specific expression profiles and were most prevalently expressed in roots. Moreover, these genes were up-regulated in response to several elicitors, including methyl jasmonate and salicylic acid, as well as Verticillium dahliae infection and Helicoverpa armigera infestation. This indicates that the MVA pathway genes are involved in the signaling pathway regulated by exogenous hormones and the resistance of cotton plants to pathogens and herbivores. Our results improve the understanding of cytosolic terpene biosynthesis in Gossypium species and lay the foundation for further research on gossypol biosynthesis.
Highlights
Terpenes, known as isoprenoids, are the largest class of natural compounds composed of two isomeric 5 carbon skeletons known as isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP), and they are ubiquitous in nature with a diverse range of structures and functions (Lange et al, 2000)
To identify the MVA pathway genes in G. arboreum, the BlastP and tBlastN programs were utilized to search against the recent G. arboreum genome data (Du et al, 2018) with the query sequences from Arabidopsis
We identified two acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase (AACT) genes, three HMG synthase (HMGS) genes, nine hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR) genes, one mevalonate kinase (MK) gene, one phosphomevalonate kinase (PMK) gene, and one mevalonate diphosphate decarboxylase (MVD) gene in G. arboreum
Summary
Known as isoprenoids, are the largest class of natural compounds composed of two isomeric 5 carbon skeletons known as isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP), and they are ubiquitous in nature with a diverse range of structures and functions (Lange et al, 2000). Terpenes are vital to the growth and development of plants by participating in their primary metabolism, such as phytohormones (abscisic acid, cytokinins, gibberellins, and brassinosteroids), photosynthetic pigments (chlorophylls and carotenoids), electron carriers (plastoquinones and ubiquinones), and membrane components (steroids) (Liu et al, 2005; Tetali, 2019). A majority of plant terpenes are involved in secondary metabolism and serve primarily in ecological roles as a response to biotic and abiotic factors. As well as the important role of terpenes in plants, many have high commercial value and are widely used in the pharmaceutical, flavor and fragrance, and biofuel industries (Jessica Elizabeth et al, 2017; Mewalal et al, 2017; Weaver, 2014; Zyad et al, 2018)
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