Background: Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) is an important staple food. However, wheat gluten proteins cause celiac disease (CD) in 0.5 to 1% of the general population. Among these proteins, the α-gliadins contain several peptides that are associated to the disease.

The Hs1(pro-1) locus confers resistance to the beet cyst nematode (Heterodera schachtii Schmidt), a major pest in the cultivation of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.). The Hs1(pro-1) gene was cloned with the use of genome-specific satellite markers and chromosomal break-point analysis. Expression of the corresponding complementary DNA in a susceptible sugar beet conferred resistance to infection with the beet cyst nematode. The native Hs1(pro-1) gene, expressed in roots, encodes a 282-amino acid protein with imperfect leucine-rich repeats and a putative membrane-spanning segment, features similar to those of disease resistance genes previously cloned from higher plants.

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Strawberry (Fragaria 3 ananassa) fruit accumulate (hydroxy)cinnamoyl glucose (Glc) esters, which may serve as the biogenetic precursors of diverse secondary metabolites, such as the flavor constituents methyl cinnamate and ethyl cinnamate. Here, we report on the isolation of a cDNA encoding a UDP-Glc:cinnamate glucosyltransferase (Fragaria 3 ananassa glucosyltransferase 2 [FaGT2]) from ripe strawberry cv Elsanta that catalyzes the formation of 1-O-acyl-Glc esters of cinnamic acid, benzoic acid, and their derivatives in vitro. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis indicated that FaGT2 transcripts accumulate to high levels during strawberry fruit ripening and to lower levels in flowers. The levels in fruits positively correlated with the in planta concentration of cinnamoyl, p-coumaroyl, and caffeoyl Glc. In the leaf, high amounts of Glc esters were detected, but FaGT2 mRNA was not observed. The expression of FaGT2 is negatively regulated by auxin, induced by oxidative stress, and by hydroxycinnamic acids. Although FaGT2 glucosylates a number of aromatic acids in vitro, quantitative analysis in transgenic lines containing an antisense construct of FaGT2 under the control of the constitutive 35S cauliflower mosaic virus promoter demonstrated that the enzyme is only involved in the formation of cinnamoyl Glc and p-coumaroyl Glc during ripening.