Phenylalanine Ammonia-lyase Gene Expression Research Articles

Ultraviolet-B-radiation-induced changes in nicotinamide and glutathione metabolism and gene expression in plants.

Pea (Pisum sativum L. cv. Greenfeast) plants were exposed to supplementary ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation (biologically effective dose rates normalised to 300 nm, UV-B[BE,300]: 0.18, 0.32 or 1.4 W m[-2]). Leaf nicotinamide, trigonelline, GSHtot (total glutathione) and GSSG (oxidised glutathione) levels remained unchanged after exposure to the lowest dose rates. 1.4 W m(-2) UV-B(BE,300) gave rise to 60-fold and 4.5-fold increases in GSSG and GSHtot, respectively. 3.5-fold and 9.5-fold increases were found in nicotinamide and trigonelline, respectively. cab (Chlorophyll-a/b-binding protein) transcript levels decreased and CHS (chalcone synthase) and PAL (phenylalanine ammonia-lyase) mRNA increased after shorter UV-B exposures (hours) to the higher dose rate of UV-B, and after exposure to the intermediate dose rate. CHS and PAL mRNAs also increased after prolonged exposure to the lowest dose rate. cab transcripts completely disappeared, whereas CHS and PAL mRNA levels rose by 60-fold and 17-fold, respectively, after 12 h exposure at the highest dose rate and 12 h of development. Our results indicate that nicotinamide or trigonelline do not function as signalling compounds for CHS and PAL gene expression. Elevated nicotinamide and trigonelline levels occur in response to UV-B, but only at UV-B doses high enough to cause oxidative stress.

Transformation of Tobacco Cultured Cell by Particle Bombardment: Expression of Phenylalanine Ammonia-lyase Gene in Transgenic Tobacco Cells.

Transformation of Tobacco Cultured Cell by Particle Bombardment: Expression of Phenylalanine Ammonia-lyase Gene in Transgenic Tobacco Cells.

A phenylalanine ammonia-lyase gene from melon fruit: cDNA cloning, sequence and expression in response to development and wounding

Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) is the first enzyme of phenylpropanoid biosynthesis involved in the synthesis of a multiplicity of plant natural products. We have isolated and characterized a nearly full-length cDNA clone (pmPAL-1) corresponding to a melon fruit (Cucumis melo L. var. reticulatus) gene coding for a protein which is highly similar to PAL from other plants. Melon fruit PAL is transcriptionally induced both in response to fruit ripening and wounding. PAL gene expression follows the kinetics of expression of the ethylene biosynthetic genes during fruit development. In contrast, ethylene biosynthetic genes show different induction kinetics compared to PAL expression in response to wounding. Similar results have been found for two other genes coding for enzymes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis (chalcone synthase, CHS; chalcone isomerase, CHI). Our results imply that regulation of defense gene expression in melon is a co-ordinated process in response to both ethylene and an ethylene-independent wound signal.

Expression of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase gene during tracheary-element differentiation from cultured mesophyll cells ofZinnia elegans L.

Expression of the phenylalanine ammonialyase (PAL) gene during tracheary-element differentiation was studied in mesophyll cell-suspension cultures ofZinnia elegans. Dose-response curves of benzyladenine (BA) and α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) were obtained for the cultures in order to achieve the highest percentage of differentiation. The optimal concentrations of BA and NAA were 0.1 mg·l(-1) and 0.06 mg·l(-1), respectively, which normally stimulated about 40% differentiation by 96 h of culture. The effects of the same ratio but different amounts of BA and NAA on tracheary-element formation have been tested and the results indicate that the absolute amounts of BA and NAA rather than the ratio of them were important for tracheary-element formation in theZinnia cultures. The cells when cultured in the presence of 0.001 mg·l(-1) of BA and 0.06 mg·l(-1) of NAA expanded and divided but did not differentiate. The level of PAL activity, synthesis of PAL protein and the level of PAL mRNA peaked during 72 to 96 h when lignin was actively deposited. This indicated that the PAL gene was temporally and preferentially expressed in association with the lignification during tracheary-element differentiation and thus it can be regarded as a molecular marker for the process.

Extensin and Phenylalanine Ammonia-Lyase Gene Expression Altered in Potato Tubers in Response to Wounding, Hypoxia, and Erwinia carotovora Infection

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tubers are susceptible to infection by Erwinia carotovora, causal agent of bacterial soft rot, when wounded and subjected to wet, hypoxic environments. The expression of two putative plant defense genes, extensin and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), was examined by monitoring their respective mRNA levels and cell wall hydroxyproline levels in tuber tissues under various conditions leading to susceptibility or resistance and after inoculation with E. carotovora in order to assess the possible roles of these genes and their products in this plant-pathogen interaction. Extensin and PAL mRNA levels as well as cell wall hydroxyproline levels accumulated markedly in response to wounding and subsequent aerobic incubation. Extensin and PAL mRNA levels as well as cell wall hydroxyproline levels decreased in response to wounding and subsequent anaerobic incubation; these changes were correlated with high susceptibility of tuber tissue to E. carotovora infection. Inoculation of wound sites with E. carotovora caused some additional accumulation of the wound-regulated extensin and PAL mRNAs under certain aerobic conditions, but never under anaerobic conditions.

Defense gene expression in elicitor-treated cell suspension cultures of french bean cv. Imuna

Cell suspension cultures of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) cv. Imuna accumulated isoflavonoid phytoalexins on exposure to elicitor from the phytopathogenic fungus Colletotrichum lindemuthianum (CL). This was preceeded by rapid increases in the activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and chalcone synthase (CHS). However, the patterns of expression of PAL and CHS genes differed from those observed in cultures of a previously studied bean cultivar. The relative levels of transcripts from individual members of the CHS multigene family differed significantly at 1.5 h compared to 22.5 h after elicitation. More strikingly, three PAL genes were expressed in cultivar Imuna in response to fungal elicitor, whereas two are expressed in elicitor-treated cell cultures of cultivar Canadian Wonder.

Differential Regulation of Phenylalanine Ammonia-lyase Genes During Plant Development and by Environmental Cues

Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) catalyzes the first reaction in the biosynthesis from phenylalanine of a wide variety of phenylpropanoid natural products including lignin, flavonoid pigments, and phytoalexins. In bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), PAL is encoded by a family of three genes. We show here by RNase protection with gene-specific probes that these genes are expressed differentially during development and in response to different environmental cues. While all three genes are expressed at high levels in roots, only PAL1 and PAL2 are expressed in shoots and only PAL1 is expressed in leaves. Strikingly, PAL2 is expressed at very high levels in petals, where PAL1 is only very weakly expressed and PAL3 is not expressed. All three genes are induced by mechanical wounding of hypocotyls, but fungal infection only activates PAL1 and PAL3. Illumination of etiolated hypocotyls activates PAL1 and PAL2 but not PAL3. Corresponding differential patterns of synthesis of specific PAL polypeptide isoforms were observed by two-dimensional gel electrophoretic analysis of in vitro translation products encoded by RNA isolated from hypocotyls stimulated by light, wounding, or infection. The specific isoforms encoded by transcripts of the three PAL genes were identified by inhibition of synthesis in vitro with gene-specific anti-sense transcripts followed by comparative two-dimensional gel electrophoretic analysis of the pattern of translation products. These data indicate that selective expression of PAL genes encoding functional variants is governed by a complex set of regulatory networks for developmental and environmental control of phenylpropanoid biosynthesis.