The isolation and mapping of a novel hydroxycinnamoyltransferase in the globe artichoke chlorogenic acid pathway

• Published in: BMC plant biology Vol. 9; no. 1; p. 30
• Main Authors: Comino, Cinzia, Hehn, Alain, Moglia, Andrea, Menin, Barbara, Bourgaud, Frédéric, Lanteri, Sergio, Portis, Ezio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central 18.03.2009; BioMed Central Ltd; BMC
• Subjects: abiotic stress; Acyltransferases - genetics; Acyltransferases - isolation & purification; Agriculture; Amino Acid Sequence; Artichokes; Biochemistry; Biochemistry, Molecular Biology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; biosynthesis; Botanics; cardoons; chlorogenic acid; Chlorogenic Acid - metabolism; Chromosome Mapping; Cloning, Molecular; Cynara cardunculus; Cynara scolymus - enzymology; Cynara scolymus - genetics; DNA, Complementary - genetics; Escherichia coli; esterification; flavonoids; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; genes; Genetic aspects; heterologous gene expression; hydroxycinnamoyltransferase; Life Sciences; Molecular Sequence Data; phylogeny; Physiological aspects; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - isolation & purification; Plant Sciences; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; quantitative polymerase chain reaction; quinic acid; Research Article; RNA, Plant - genetics; Sequence Alignment; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Transferases; Tree Biology; Vegetal Biology; France; Italy; Acyl Donor; Quinic Acid; Chlorogenic Acid; Globe Artichoke; Shikimic Acid
• ISSN: 1471-2229; 1471-2229
• DOI: 10.1186/1471-2229-9-30

Background The leaves of globe artichoke and cultivated cardoon ( Cynara cardunculus L.) have significant pharmaceutical properties, which mainly result from their high content of polyphenolic compounds such as monocaffeoylquinic and dicaffeoylquinic acid (DCQ), and a range of flavonoid compounds. Results Hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA:quinate hydroxycinnamoyltransferase (HQT) encoding genes have been isolated from both globe artichoke and cultivated cardoon (GenBank accessions DQ915589 and DQ915590, respectively) using CODEHOP and PCR-RACE. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that their sequences belong to one of the major acyltransferase groups (anthranilate N-hydroxycinnamoyl/benzoyltransferase). The heterologous expression of globe artichoke HQT in E. coli showed that this enzyme can catalyze the esterification of quinic acid with caffeoyl-CoA or p -coumaroyl-CoA to generate, respectively, chlorogenic acid (CGA) and p -coumaroyl quinate. Real time PCR experiments demonstrated an increase in the expression level of HQT in UV-C treated leaves, and established a correlation between the synthesis of phenolic acids and protection against damage due to abiotic stress. The HQT gene, together with a gene encoding hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA:shikimate/quinate hydroxycinnamoyltransferase (HCT) previously isolated from globe artichoke, have been incorporated within the developing globe artichoke linkage maps. Conclusion A novel acyltransferase involved in the biosynthesis of CGA in globe artichoke has been isolated, characterized and mapped. This is a good basis for our effort to understand the genetic basis of phenylpropanoid (PP) biosynthesis in C. cardunculus .