近日，美国斯坦福大学Elizabeth Sattely和Mary Beth Mudgett研究团队合作鉴定了番茄中高度修饰脂肪酸的病原响应基因簇。这一研究成果在线发表在2020年1月9日的国际学术期刊《细胞》上。

使用非靶向代谢组学和RNA测序相结合的方法，研究人员发现了番茄（Solanum lycopersicum）法卡林二醇生产所需的生物合成基因簇。通过在异源宿主中重建初始生物合成步骤并在番茄中产生转基因突变体，研究人员证明了该基因簇在法卡林二醇生物合成中的直接作用以及对番茄叶片中真菌和细菌病原体的抗性。这项工作揭示了一种新机制，即植物可通过修饰脂质库以应对病原体；并且这项工作也有助人们理解炔基脂质生产的复杂生物化学。

据了解，为了应对生物胁迫，植物会产生一系列具有特殊功能的高度修饰的脂肪酸。尽管它们具有化学复杂性并在病原体防御中的发挥作用，但对植物中修饰脂肪酸的生物合成知之甚少。 法卡林二醇是存在于胡萝卜、番茄和芹菜中的典型炔属类脂，可抑制真菌和人类癌细胞系的生长。

附：英文原文

Title: A Pathogen-Responsive Gene Cluster for Highly Modified Fatty Acids in Tomato

Author: Ju Eun Jeon, Jung-Gun Kim, Curt R. Fischer, Niraj Mehta, Cosima Dufour-Schroif, Kimberly Wemmer, Mary Beth Mudgett, Elizabeth Sattely

Issue&Volume: 2020/01/09

Abstract: In response to biotic stress, plants produce suites of highly modified fatty acids that bear unusual chemical functionalities. Despite their chemical complexity and proposed roles in pathogen defense, little is known about the biosynthesis of decorated fatty acids in plants. Falcarindiol is a prototypical acetylenic lipid present in carrot, tomato, and celery that inhibits growth of fungi and human cancer cell lines. Using a combination of untargeted metabolomics and RNA sequencing, we discovered a biosynthetic gene cluster in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) required for falcarindiol production. By reconstituting initial biosynthetic steps in a heterologous host and generating transgenic pathway mutants in tomato, we demonstrate a direct role of the cluster in falcarindiol biosynthesis and resistance to fungal and bacterial pathogens in tomato leaves. This work reveals a mechanism by which plants sculpt their lipid pool in response to pathogens and provides critical insight into the complex biochemistry of alkynyl lipid production.

DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.11.037

Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(19)31322-4