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Mutants of Arabidopsis as Tools to Understand the Regulation of Phenylpropanoid Pathway and UVB Protection Mechanisms
Author(s) -
Bharti Arvind K.,
Khurana Jitendra P.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
photochemistry and photobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.818
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1751-1097
pISSN - 0031-8655
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-1097.1997.tb01923.x
Subject(s) - phenylpropanoid , arabidopsis , mutant , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , computational biology , biology , biochemistry , gene , biosynthesis
— Plants accumulate certain phenylpropanoid compounds in the vacuoles of their epidermal and subepidermal cell layers thereby protecting the underlying tissue against UVB‐induced damage. However, a number of mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana are known that fail to synthesize these protective pigments, thereby allowing harmful UVB radiation to penetrate into their dermal layers. Study of several of these nonlethal mutants, defective in various aspects of flavonoid and lignin biosynthesis, has led to a better understanding of the coordinate regulation and expression of important genes as well as of mechanisms involved in plant defense against UVB radiation. The characteristics of the various phenylpropanoid mutants of Arabidopsis, viz. flavonoid mutants (banyuls [ baity , increased chalcone synthase expression 1 [ icx1 ]; transparent testa [ tt ] and ultraviolet sensitive [ uvs ]) and hydroxycinnamic acid ester mutants (ferulic acid hydroxylase 1 [ fahl ] and sinapoylglucose accumulator 1 [ sng1 ]) are discussed in detail. We have briefly touched upon, wherever relevant, the unique aspects in other plant species too.