In vivo assembly of sorgoleone biosynthetic pathway

Sorgoleone, a hydrophobic compound exuded from root hair cells of Sorghum spp., accounts for much of the allelopathic activity. The enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of this compound have been identified and functionally characterized. To explore the possibility of producing sorgoleone in other species, a multi-gene DNA construct was prepared for the expression of genes required for sorgoleone biosynthesis in planta and deployed in Nicotiana benthamiana leaf tissues via Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression. The production of sorgoleone observed in agroinfiltrated leaves as detected by GC/MS resulted in the formation of necrotic lesions, indicating that the compound possesses significant phytotoxicity to these tissues. RNA-sequencing profiling revealed significant changes in gene expression in the host plant during the formation of sorgoleone-induced necrotic lesions.

Sorgoleone，一种源自高粱（Sorghum spp.）根毛细胞的疏水性化合物，在很大程度上负责了其化感活性。该化合物生物合成过程中的相关酶类已被鉴定并进行了功能表征。为探究在其他物种中生产Sorgoleone的可能性，研究者制备了一个多基因DNA构建体，用于在植物体内表达合成Sorgoleone所需的基因，并通过农杆菌介导的瞬时表达将该构建体部署于Nicotiana benthamiana叶片组织中。通过气相色谱-质谱联用（GC/MS）检测到的在农杆菌侵染叶片中观察到的Sorgoleone生产，导致坏死性病变的形成，表明该化合物对这些组织具有显著的植物毒性。RNA测序分析揭示了在Sorgoleone诱导的坏死性病变形成过程中，宿主植物基因表达发生了显著变化。