Evidence on the molecular basis of the Ac/ac adaptive cyanogenesis polymorphism in white clover (Trifolium repens L).

ABSTRACT: White clover is polymorphic for cyanogenesis, with both cyanogenic and acyanogenic plants occurring in nature. This chemical defense polymorphism is one of the longest-studied and best-documented examples of an adaptive polymorphism in plants. It is controlled by two independently segregating genes: Ac/ac controls the presence/absence of cyanogenic glucosides; and Li/li controls the presence/absence of their hydrolyzing enzyme, linamarase. Whereas Li is well characterized at the molecular level, Ac has remained unidentified. Here we report evidence that Ac corresponds to a gene encoding a cytochrome P450 of the CYP79D protein subfamily (CYP79D15), and we describe the apparent molecular basis of the Ac/ac polymorphism. CYP79D orthologs catalyze the first step in cyanogenic glucoside biosynt

SUBMITTER: Olsen KM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2390629 | biostudies-literature | 2008 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature