It happened again: Convergent evolution of acylglucose specialized metabolism in black nightshade and wild tomato.

ABSTRACT: Plants synthesize myriad phylogenetically restricted specialized (aka “secondary”) metabolites with diverse structures. Metabolism of acylated sugar esters in epidermal glandular secreting trichomes across the Solanaceae (nightshade) family is ideal for investigating the mechanisms of evolutionary metabolic diversification. We developed methods to structurally analyze acylhexose mixtures by 2D NMR, which led to the insight that the Old World species black nightshade (Solanum nigrum) accumulates acylglucoses and acylinositols in the same tissue. Detailed in vitro biochemistry, cross-validated by in vivo virus-induced gene silencing, revealed two unique features of the four-step acylglucose biosynthetic pathway: A trichome-expressed, neofunctionalized invertase-like enzyme, SnASFF1, c

SUBMITTER: Lou YR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8580325 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature