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4-Coumarate 3-hydroxylase in the lignin biosynthesis pathway is a cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase.

ABSTRACT: Lignin biosynthesis is evolutionarily conserved among higher plants and features a critical 3-hydroxylation reaction involving phenolic esters. However, increasing evidence questions the involvement of a single pathway to lignin formation in vascular plants. Here we describe an enzyme catalyzing the direct 3-hydroxylation of 4-coumarate to caffeate in lignin biosynthesis as a bifunctional peroxidase that oxidizes both ascorbate and 4-coumarate at comparable rates. A combination of biochemical and genetic evidence in the model plants Brachypodium distachyon and Arabidopsis thaliana supports a role for this coumarate 3-hydroxylase (C3H) in the early steps of lignin biosynthesis. The subsequent efficient O-methylation of caffeate to ferulate in grasses is substantiated by in vivo biochemical assays. Our results identify C3H as the only non-membrane bound hydroxylase in the lignin pathway and revise the currently accepted models of lignin biosynthesis, suggesting new gene targets to improve forage and bioenergy crops.

SUBMITTER: Barros J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6491607 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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4-Coumarate 3-hydroxylase in the lignin biosynthesis pathway is a cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase.

Barros Jaime J Escamilla-Trevino Luis L Song Luhua L Rao Xiaolan X Serrani-Yarce Juan Carlos JC Palacios Maite Docampo MD Engle Nancy N Choudhury Feroza K FK Tschaplinski Timothy J TJ Venables Barney J BJ Mittler Ron R Dixon Richard A RA

Nature communications 20190430 1

Lignin biosynthesis is evolutionarily conserved among higher plants and features a critical 3-hydroxylation reaction involving phenolic esters. However, increasing evidence questions the involvement of a single pathway to lignin formation in vascular plants. Here we describe an enzyme catalyzing the direct 3-hydroxylation of 4-coumarate to caffeate in lignin biosynthesis as a bifunctional peroxidase that oxidizes both ascorbate and 4-coumarate at comparable rates. A combination of biochemical an ...[more]

PMID: 31040279

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Project description:We used the flu mutant of Arabidopsis and a transgenic line that overexpresses the thylakoid-bound ascorbate peroxidase (tAPX) to address the interactions between different reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling pathways. The conditional flu mutant of Arabidopsis accumulates excess protochlorophyllide in the dark within chloroplast membranes that upon illumination acts as a photosensitizer and generates singlet oxygen (1O2). Immediately after the release of singlet oxygen rapid changes in nuclear gene expression occur. Distinct sets of genes were activated that were different from those induced by other reactive oxygen species, superoxide or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), suggesting that different types of active oxygen species activate distinct signaling pathways. It was not known whether the pathways operate separately or interact with each other. We have addressed this problem by modulating noninvasively the level of H2O2 in plastids by means of a transgenic line that overexpresses the thylakoid-bound ascorbate peroxidase (tAPX, line 14/2 PMID: 15165186). In the flu mutant overexpressing tAPX, the expression of most of the nuclear genes that were rapidly activated after the release of 1O2 was significantly higher in flu plants overexpressing tAPX, whereas in wild-type plants, overexpression of tAPX had only a very minor impact on nuclear gene expression. The results suggest that H2O2 antagonizes the 1O2-mediated signaling of stress responses as seen in the flu mutant. This cross-talk between H2O2- and 1O2-dependent signaling pathways might contribute to the overall stability and robustness of wild-type plants exposed to adverse environmental stress conditions. Experiment Overall Design: Arabidopsis thaliana rosette leaves were harvested after 2 h of reillumination following a 8h dark period for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix ATH1 microarrays. The entire experiment was performed six times, providing independent biological replicates. For each of the six experiments, all four lines, wild-type, thylakoidal ascorbate peroxidase overexpressor (over tAPX, line 14/2), flu mutant and flu plants overexpressing thylakoidal ascorbate peroxidase were grown for 3 weeks under continuous light at 90 mmol. m-2 . s-1, transferred to the dark for 8 h, and reilluminated for 120 min before the rosette leaves of at least 10 plants per line were harvested. Total RNAs from three separate biological experiments were pooled (= 1 biological rep.) for the preparation of cDNA and the subsequent synthesis of biotin-labeled complementary RNA as recommended by Affymetrix.

Dataset Information

4-Coumarate 3-hydroxylase in the lignin biosynthesis pathway is a cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase.

Publications

4-Coumarate 3-hydroxylase in the lignin biosynthesis pathway is a cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase.

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