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Constitutive activation of the jasmonate signaling pathway enhances the production of secondary metabolites in tomato
Author(s) -
Chen Hui,
Jones A. Daniel,
Howe Gregg A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2006.03.070
Subject(s) - methyl jasmonate , jasmonic acid , jasmonate , genetically modified crops , phenylpropanoid , mutant , biochemistry , biosynthesis , transgene , biology , genetically modified tomato , wild type , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , botany , enzyme , arabidopsis , gene
The phytohormone jasmonic acid (JA) regulates the synthesis of secondary metabolites in a wide range of plant species. Here, we show that exogenous methyl‐JA (MeJA) elicits massive accumulation of caffeoylputrescine (CP) in tomato leaves. A mutant ( jai1 ) that is defective in jasmonate perception failed to accumulate CP in flowers and MeJA‐treated leaves. Conversely, a transgenic tomato line (called 35S::PS ) that exhibits constitutive JA signaling accumulated high levels of leaf CP in the absence of jasmonate treatment. RNA blot analysis showed that genes encoding enzymes in the phenylpropanoid and polyamine pathways for CP biosynthesis are upregulated in MeJA‐treated wild‐type plants and in untreated 35S::PS plants. These results indicate that CP accumulation in tomato is tightly controlled by the jasmonate signaling pathway, and provide proof‐of‐concept that the production of some plant secondary metabolites can be enhanced by transgenic manipulation of endogenous JA levels.