Identification of Three (Iso)flavonoid Glucosyltransferases From Pueraria lobata

Abstract

(Iso)flavonoids are one of the largest groups of natural phenolic products conferring great value to the health of plants and humans. Pueraria lobata, a legume, has long been used in Chinese traditional medicine. (Iso)flavonoids mainly present as glycosyl-conjugates and accumulate in P. lobata roots. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the glycosylation processes in (iso)flavonoid biosynthesis are not fully understood. In the current study, three novel UDP-glycosyltransferases (PlUGT4, PlUGT15, and PlUGT57) were identified in P. lobata from RNA-seq data. Biochemical assays of these three recombinant PlUGTs showed all of them were able to glycosylate isoflavones (genistein and daidzein) at the 7-hydroxyl position in vitro. In comparison with the strict substrate specificity for PlUGT15 and PlUGT57, PlUGT4 displayed utilization of a broad range of sugar acceptors. Particularly, PlUGT15 exhibited a much higher catalytic efficiency toward isoflavones (genistein and daidzein) than any other identified 7-O-UGT from P. lobata. Moreover, the transcriptional expression patterns of these PlUGTs correlated with the accumulation of isoflavone glucosides in MeJA-treated P. lobata, suggesting their possible in vivo roles in the glycosylation process.

Iris domestica (iso)flavone 7- and 3′-O-Glycosyltransferases Can Be Induced by CuCl2

“…Recently, three new (iso)flavonoid glycosyltransferases (PlUGT4, −15 and −57) were identified in P. lobate . PlUGT15 and PlUGT57 exhibit much higher isoflavone specificity than other 7-O-UGTs found in P. lobate (Wang X. et al, 2019 ).…”

“…In plants, glycosylation is a key modification that allows the formation of a myriad of secondary metabolites, which play many important roles in plant responses to challenges faced during growth and development (Bowles et al, 2005 ; Gachon et al, 2005 ; Campos et al, 2019 ). PlUGT4, −15 and −57 are up-regulated in P. lobata roots after methyl jasmonate treatments (Wang X. et al, 2019 ), and PlUGT1 may be related to the defense response against the MeJA treatment. In this paper, all the BcUGTs were up-regulated after CuCl 2 stress, especially BcUGT1 and BcUGT2, which have highly homologous nucleotide sequences and broad substrate ranges.…”

Genome-wide analysis of UDP-glycosyltransferases family and identification of UGT genes involved in abiotic stress and flavonol biosynthesis in Nicotiana tabacum

“…However, enzymes encoded by UGT genes identified as catalyzing the final glycosylation steps in flavonoid biosynthesis were rare, and remained to be fully characterized. Members of the UGT71/72/73/75/78/79/83/91/94 families have been identified in flavonoid biosynthesis pathways in a range of plants [ 18 , 20 , 46 - 49 ]. In this study, we investigated the involvement of NtUGT genes in flavonoid biosynthesis in two ways.…”

Chromosomal-level genome and multi-omics dataset of Pueraria lobata var. thomsonii provide new insights into legume family and the isoflavone and puerarin biosynthesis pathways

“…13 ). This suggested that the P. thomsonii genome had undergone extensive chromosome rearrangement despite its estimated more recent WGD compared with G. max , which coincided with the smaller number of chromosomes in P. thomsonii [ 15 ].…”