The bHLH transcription factor BIS1 controls the iridoid branch of the monoterpenoid indole alkaloid pathway in Catharanthus roseus.

ABSTRACT: Plants make specialized bioactive metabolites to defend themselves against attackers. The conserved control mechanisms are based on transcriptional activation of the respective plant species-specific biosynthetic pathways by the phytohormone jasmonate. Knowledge of the transcription factors involved, particularly in terpenoid biosynthesis, remains fragmentary. By transcriptome analysis and functional screens in the medicinal plant Catharanthus roseus (Madagascar periwinkle), the unique source of the monoterpenoid indole alkaloid (MIA)-type anticancer drugs vincristine and vinblastine, we identified a jasmonate-regulated basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor from clade IVa inducing the monoterpenoid branch of the MIA pathway. The bHLH iridoid synthesis 1 (BIS1) transcription fa

SUBMITTER: Van Moerkercke A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4491741 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature