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Metabolic engineering of proanthocyanidins by ectopic expression of transcription factors in Arabidopsis thaliana
Author(s) -
Sharma Shashi B.,
Dixon Richard A.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-313x.2005.02510.x
Subject(s) - ectopic expression , arabidopsis thaliana , proanthocyanidin , transcription factor , microbiology and biotechnology , over expression , transcription (linguistics) , biology , arabidopsis , chemistry , biochemistry , gene , polyphenol , antioxidant , mutant , linguistics , philosophy
Summary Genetic transformation of Arabidopsis thaliana with the Arabidopsis TT2 MYB transcription factor resulted in ectopic expression of the BANYULS gene, encoding anthocyanidin reductase, AHA10 encoding a P‐type proton‐pump and TT12 encoding a transporter involved in proanthocyanidin biosynthesis. When coupled with constitutive expression of PAP1 , a positive regulator of anthocyanin biosynthesis, TT2 expression in Arabidopsis led to accumulation of proanthocyanidins, but only in a subset of cells in which the BANYULS promoter is naturally expressed. Ectopic expression of the maize Lc MYC transcription factor weakly induced AHA10 but did not induce BANYULS , TT12 or accumulation of proanthocyanidins. However, high‐level combined expression of TT2 , PAP1 and Lc resulted in proanthocyanidin synthesis throughout young leaves and cotyledons, followed by death of the plants 1 to 2 weeks after germination. We discuss these results in relation to engineering proanthocyanidins to improve the quality of food and forage plants.