Gene transcript and metabolite profiling of elicitor-induced opium poppy cell cultures reveals the coordinate regulation of primary and secondary metabolism

• Published in: Planta Vol. 225; no. 5; pp. 1085 - 1106
• Main Authors: Zulak, Katherine G, Cornish, Anthony, Daskalchuk, Timothy E, Deyholos, Michael K, Goodenowe, Dayan B, Gordon, Paul M. K, Klassen, Darren, Pelcher, Lawrence E, Sensen, Christoph W, Facchini, Peter J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin Berlin/Heidelberg : Springer-Verlag 01-04-2007; Springer-Verlag; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alkaloids; Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids; Biological and medical sciences; Biosynthesis; Cell Culture Techniques; Cell physiology; Cellular metabolism; Cloning, Molecular; DNA microarray; DNA, Complementary - genetics; DNA, Plant - genetics; Enzymes; Enzymes - genetics; Expressed Sequence Tags; Fourier transforms; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Gene Library; Genes; Mass spectrometry; Metabolite profiling; Metabolites; Molecular and cellular biology; Narcotic dependence; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; Opium; Papaver - cytology; Papaver - genetics; Papaver - metabolism; Papaver somniferum; Plant Proteins - genetics; Principal components analysis; Protein metabolism; RNA, Plant - genetics; sanguinarine; Signal transduction; Transcript profiling; Transcription, Genetic; Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids; Sanguinarine, Transcript profiling; DNA chip; Papaver somniferum; Papaveraceae; Alkaloid; Gene; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Spermatophyta; Expressed sequence tag; Secondary metabolism; DNA microarray, Expressed sequence tags; Papaver somniferum, Metabolite profiling
• DOI: 10.1007/s00425-006-0419-5
• EISSN: 1432-2048
• ISSN: 0032-0935

Elicitor-induced sanguinarine accumulation in opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) cell cultures provides a responsive model system to profile modulations in gene transcripts and metabolites related to alkaloid biosynthesis. An annotated expressed sequence tag (EST) database was assembled from 10,224 random clones isolated from an elicitor-treated opium poppy cell culture cDNA library. The most abundant ESTs encoded defense proteins, and enzymes involved in alkaloid metabolism and S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyl transfer. ESTs corresponding to 40 enzymes involved in the conversion of sucrose to sanguinarine were identified. A corresponding DNA microarray was probed with RNA from cell cultures collected at various time-points after elicitor treatment, and compared with RNA from control cells. Several diverse transcript populations were coordinately induced, with alkaloid biosynthetic enzyme and defense protein transcripts displaying the most rapid and substantial increases. In addition to all known sanguinarine biosynthetic gene transcripts, mRNAs encoding several upstream primary metabolic enzymes were coordinately induced. Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectrometry was used to characterize the metabolite profiles of control and elicitor-treated cell cultures. Principle component analysis revealed a significant and dynamic separation in the metabolome, represented by 992 independent detected analytes, in response to elicitor treatment. Identified metabolites included sanguinarine, dihydrosanguinarine, and the methoxylated derivatives dihydrochelirubine and chelirubine, and the alkaloid pathway intermediates N-methylcoclaurine, N-methylstylopine, and protopine. Some of the detected analytes showed temporal changes in abundance consistent with modulations in the profiles of alkaloid biosynthetic gene transcripts.