Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is an immune response induced in the distal parts of plants following defense activation in local tissue. Pipecolic acid (Pip) accumulation orchestrates SAR and local resistance responses. Here, we report the identification and characterization of SAR-DEFICIENT4 (SARD4), which encodes a critical enzyme for Pip biosynthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana Loss of function of SARD4 leads to reduced Pip levels and accumulation of a Pip precursor, Δ-piperideine-2-carboxylic acid (P2C). In Escherichia coli, expression of the aminotransferase ALD1 leads to production of P2C and addition of SARD4 results in Pip production, suggesting that a Pip biosynthesis pathway can be reconstituted in bacteria by coexpression of ALD1 and SARD4. In vitro experiments showed that ALD1 can use l-lysine as a substrate to produce P2C and P2C is converted to Pip by SARD4. Analysis of sard4 mutant plants showed that SARD4 is required for SAR as well as enhanced pathogen resistance conditioned by overexpression of the SAR regulator FLAVIN-DEPENDENT MONOOXYGENASE1. Compared with the wild type, pathogen-induced Pip accumulation is only modestly reduced in the local tissue of sard4 mutant plants, but it is below detection in distal leaves, suggesting that Pip is synthesized in systemic tissue by SARD4-mediated reduction of P2C and biosynthesis of Pip in systemic tissue contributes to SAR establishment.

Over the past decades much research focused on the biosynthesis of the plant hormone jasmonyl-isoleucine (JA-Ile). While many details about its biosynthetic pathway as well about its physiological function are established nowadays, knowledge about its catabolic fate is still scarce. Only recently, the hormonal inactivation mechanisms became a stronger research focus. Two major pathways have been proposed to inactivate JA-Ile: i) The cleavage of the jasmonyl-residue from the isoleucine moiety, a reaction that is catalyzed by specific amido-hydrolases, or ii), the sequential oxidation of the ω-end of the pentenyl side-chain. This reaction is catalyzed by specific members of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) subfamily CYP94: CYP94B1, CYP94B3 and CYP94C1. In the present study, we further investigated the oxidative fate of JA-Ile by expanding the analysis on Arabidopsis thaliana mutants, lacking only one (cyp94b1, cyp94b2, cyp94b3, cyp94c1), two (cyp94b1xcyp94b2, cyp94b1xcyp94b3, cyp94b2xcyp94b3), three (cyp94b1xcyp94b2xcyp94b3) or even four (cyp94b1xcyp94b2xcyp94b3xcyp94c1) CYP94 functionalities. The results obtained in the present study show that CYP94B1, CYP94B2, CYP94B3 and CYP94C1 are responsible for catalyzing the sequential ω-oxidation of JA-Ile in a semi-redundant manner. While CYP94B-enzymes preferentially hydroxylate JA-Ile to 12-hydroxy-JA-Ile, CYP94C1 catalyzes primarily the subsequent oxidation, yielding 12-carboxy-JA-Ile. In addition, data obtained from investigating the triple and quadruple mutants let us hypothesize that a direct oxidation of unconjugated JA to 12-hydroxy-JA is possible in planta. Using a non-targeted metabolite fingerprinting analysis, we identified unconjugated 12-carboxy-JA as novel jasmonate derivative in floral tissues. Using the same approach, we could show that deletion of CYP94-genes might not only affect JA-homeostasis but also other signaling pathways. Deletion of CYP94B1, for example, led to accumulation of metabolites that may be characteristic for plant stress responses like systemic acquired resistance. Evaluation of the in vivo function of the different CYP94-enzymes on the JA-sensitivity demonstrated that particularly CYP94B-enzymes might play an essential role for JA-response, whereas CYP94C1 might only be of minor importance.

Jasmonic acid is a plant hormone that can be produced by the fungus Lasiodiplodia theobromae via submerged fermentation. From a biotechnological perspective jasmonic acid is a valuable feedstock as its derivatives serve as important ingredients in different cosmetic products and in the future it may be used for pharmaceutical applications. The objective of this work was to improve the production of jasmonic acid by L. theobromae strain 2334. We observed that jasmonic acid formation is dependent on the culture volume. Moreover, cultures grown in medium containing potassium nitrate as nitrogen source produced higher amounts of jasmonic acid than analogous cultures supplemented with ammonium nitrate. When cultivated under optimal conditions for jasmonic acid production, L. theobromae secreted several secondary metabolites known from plants into the medium. Among those we found 3-oxo-2-(pent-2-enyl)-cyclopentane-1-butanoic acid (OPC-4) and hydroxy-jasmonic acid derivatives, respectively, suggesting that fungal jasmonate metabolism may involve similar reaction steps as that of plants. To characterize fungal growth and jasmonic acid-formation, we established a mathematical model describing both processes. This model may form the basis of industrial upscaling attempts. Importantly, it showed that jasmonic acid-formation is not associated to fungal growth. Therefore, this finding suggests that jasmonic acid, despite its enormous amount being produced upon fungal development, serves merely as secondary metabolite.

Jasmonoyl-isoleucine (JA-Ile) is a phytohormone that orchestrates plant defenses in response to wounding, feeding insects, or necrotrophic pathogens. JA-Ile metabolism has been studied intensively, but its catabolism as a potentially important mechanism for the regulation of JA-Ile–mediated signaling is not well-understood. Especially the enzyme(s) responsible for specifically glycosylating 12-hydroxy-jasmonic acid (12-OH-JA) and thereby producing 12-O-glucopyranosyl-jasmonic acid (12-O-Glc-JA) is still elusive. Here, we used co-expression analyses of available Arabidopsis thaliana transcriptomic data, identifying four UDP-dependent glycosyltransferase (UGT) genes as wound-induced and 12-OH-JA–related, namely, UGT76E1, UGT76E2, UGT76E11, and UGT76E12. We heterologously expressed and purified the corresponding proteins to determine their individual substrate specificities and kinetic parameters. We then used an ex vivo metabolite-fingerprinting approach to investigate these proteins in conditions as close as possible to their natural environment, with an emphasis on greatly extending the range of potential substrates. As expected, we found that UGT76E1 and UGT76E2 are 12-OH-JA-UGTs, with UGT76E1 contributing a major in vivo UGT activity, as deduced from Arabidopsis mutants with abolished or increased UGT gene expression. In contrast, recombinant UGT76E11 acted on an unidentified compound and also glycosylated two other oxylipins, 11-hydroxy-7,9,13-hexadecatrienoic acid (11-HHT) and 13-hydroxy-9,11,15-octadecatrienoic acid (13-HOT), which were also accepted by recombinant UGT76E1, UGT76E2, and UGT76E12 enzymes. UGT76E12 glycosylated 12-OH-JA only to a low extent, but also accepted an artificial hydroxylated fatty acid and low amounts of kaempferol. In conclusion, our findings have elucidated the missing step in the wound-induced synthesis of 12-O-glucopyranosyl-jasmonic acid in A. thaliana.

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