Search

The exine acts as a protectant of the pollen from environmental stresses, and the pollen coat plays an important role in the attachment and recognition of the pollen to the stigma. The pollen coat is made of lipidic organelles in the tapetum. The pollen coat is necessary for fertility, as pollen coat-less mutants, such as those deficient in sterol biosynthesis, show severe male sterility. In contrast, the exine is made of sporopollenin precursors that are biosynthesized in the tapetum. Some mutants involved in sporopollenin biosynthesis lose the exine but show the fertile phenotype. One of these mutants, cyp704b1, was reported to lose not only the exine but also the pollen coat. To identify the cause of the fertile phenotype of the cyp704b1 mutant, the detailed structures of the tapetum tissue and pollen surface in the mutant were analyzed. As a result, the cyp704b1 mutant completely lost the normal exine but had high-electron-density granules localized where the exine should be present. Furthermore, normal lipidic organelles in the tapetum and pollen coat embedded between high-electron-density granules on the pollen surface were observed, unlike in a previous report, and the pollen coat was attached to the stigma. Therefore, the pollen coat is necessary for fertility, and the structure that functions like the exine, such as high-electron-density granules, on the pollen surface may play important roles in retaining the pollen coat in the cyp704b1 mutant.

We studied the biosynthetic role of a cytochrome P450, CYP81F4, in Arabidopsis. The CYP81F4 gene was found within a gene expression network containing the transcription factor gene MYB34/ATR1 involved in tryptophan metabolisms. Root metabolic profiles in null cyp81f4 mutant lines were analyzed using an in-house metabolomics scheme based on Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. The cyp81f4 mutant plants exhibited a build-up of indole-3-yl-methyl glucosinolate with concomitant loss of 1-methoxy-indole-3-yl-methyl glucosinolate. A pathway prediction supported by a detailed glucosinolate analysis indicated that CYP81F4, together with an unidentified methyltransferase, is involved in the formation of the methoxy group in the indole ring to yield 1-methoxy-indole-3-yl-methyl glucosinolate in Arabidopsis roots. Current results suggest that 1-methoxy-indole-3-yl-methyl glucosinolate is produced by the activity of CYP81F4 in Arabidopsis roots.

Genome sequence analysis has revealed the presence of almost infinite numbers of cytochrome P450 genes in a variety of organisms. To establish a robust experimental platform from which to explore the catalytic potential of those putative P450 proteins, we have developed a comprehensive metabolic profiling system based on Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR/MS) analysis, together with recombinant enzyme studies. Here, we report the enzymatic properties of CYP78A5, CYP78A7, CYP78A10, and CYP86C3 of Arabidopsis as short-chain fatty acid hydroxylases, with substrates including lauric acid (C12:0), myristic acid (C14:0), palmitic acid (C16:0), and myristoleic acid (C14:1). The fatty acid hydroxylation activity of CYP78A7 was confirmed using FT-ICR/MS metabolic profiling of P450-gene-overexpressing lines of cultured Arabidopsis T87 cells. The practical application of this metabolic profiling scheme is discussed as a P450 functional characterization platform.