1. Jasmonate-responsive ERF transcription factors regulate steroidal glycoalkaloid biosynthesis in tomato
- Author
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Kentaro Yano, Koichi Kawamoto, Chonprakun Thagun, Hiroshi Ezura, Satoko Nonaka, Chiaki Matsukura, Kiyoshi Ohyama, Shunsuke Imanishi, Takashi Hashimoto, Minami Katayama, Toru Kudo, Yukino Nakamura, Tetsuya Mori, Tsubasa Shoji, Kazuki Saito, and Ryo Nakabayashi
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,0301 basic medicine ,Transcriptional Activation ,Physiology ,Plant Science ,Cyclopentanes ,tomato ,Biology ,01 natural sciences ,03 medical and health sciences ,Transactivation ,Alkaloids ,Solanum lycopersicum ,Plant Growth Regulators ,Species Specificity ,Transcription (biology) ,Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ,Genetically modified tomato ,Jasmonate ,Oxylipins ,Promoter Regions, Genetic ,Gene ,Transcription factor ,Plant Proteins ,Phytosterols ,Promoter ,Cell Biology ,General Medicine ,Ethylenes ,Plants, Genetically Modified ,Cell biology ,steroidal glycoalkaloids ,DNA-Binding Proteins ,030104 developmental biology ,Mevalonate pathway ,jasmonates ,010606 plant biology & botany ,Transcription Factors - Abstract
Steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGAs) are cholesterol-derived specialized metabolites produced in species of the Solanaceae. Here, we report that a group of jasmonate-responsive transcription factors of the ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR (ERF) family (JREs) are close homologs of alkaloid regulators in Cathranthus roseus and tobacco, and regulate production of SGAs in tomato. In transgenic tomato, overexpression and dominant suppression of JRE genes caused drastic changes in SGA accumulation and in the expression of genes for metabolic enzymes involved in the multistep pathway leading to SGA biosynthesis, including the upstream mevalonate pathway. Transactivation and DNA-protein binding assays demonstrate that JRE4 activates the transcription of SGA biosynthetic genes by binding to GCC box-like elements in their promoters. These JRE-binding elements occur at significantly higher frequencies in proximal promoter regions of the genes regulated by JRE genes, supporting the conclusion that JREs mediate transcriptional co-ordination of a series of metabolic genes involved in SGA biosynthesis.
- Published
- 2016
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