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. 2001 Jun;126(2):811-25.
doi: 10.1104/pp.126.2.811.

Genetic control of natural variation in Arabidopsis glucosinolate accumulation

D J Kliebenstein  1 , J Kroymann, P Brown, A Figuth, D Pedersen, J Gershenzon, T Mitchell-Olds
Affiliations

Genetic control of natural variation in Arabidopsis glucosinolate accumulation

D J Kliebenstein et al. Plant Physiol. 2001 Jun.

Abstract

Glucosinolates are biologically active secondary metabolites of the Brassicaceae and related plant families that influence plant/insect interactions. Specific glucosinolates can act as feeding deterrents or stimulants, depending upon the insect species. Hence, natural selection might favor the presence of diverse glucosinolate profiles within a given species. We determined quantitative and qualitative variation in glucosinolates in the leaves and seeds of 39 Arabidopsis ecotypes. We identified 34 different glucosinolates, of which the majority are chain-elongated compounds derived from methionine. Polymorphism at only five loci was sufficient to generate 14 qualitatitvely different leaf glucosinolate profiles. Thus, there appears to be a modular genetic system regulating glucosinolate profiles in Arabidopsis. This system allows the rapid generation of new glucosinolate combinations in response to changing herbivory or other selective pressures. In addition to the qualitative variation in glucosinolate profiles, we found a nearly 20-fold difference in the quantity of total aliphatic glucosinolates and were able to identify a single locus that controls nearly three-quarters of this variation.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Glucosinolate biosynthetic pathway. I, 2-Alkylmalic acid; II, 3-alkylmalic acid; III, 2-oxo acid. A, Basic glucosinolate structure. B, Outline of the pathway which can be divided into three parts: elongation of the amino acid side chain, formation of the basic glucosinolate skeleton, and further side chain modification. Each chain elongation cycle adds an additional methylene group (Graser et al., 2000).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Side chain modifications of Met-derived glucosinolates in Arabidopsis. Potential side chain modifications for the elongated Met derivative, C4 dihomo-Met, are shown. Steps with natural variation identified in this study are shown in bold to the right or left of each enzymatic arrow.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effect of GS-OX on conversion of methylthioalkyl to methylsulfinylalkyl glucosinolates. Bar diagrams show the ratio of methylthioalkyl (MT) glucosinolate to methylsulfinylalkyl (MSO) glucosinolate content in leaf (A) and seeds (B) for each ecotype analyzed.
Figure 4
Figure 4
GS-AOP regulates the accumulation of aliphatic glucosinolates in the leaves of Arabidopsis. The bars depict the average total aliphatic glucosinolate accumulation in leaves of 39 ecotypes. The ecotypes are classified based on the inferred genotype at three biosynthetic loci: GS-Elong, either C3- or C4-accumulating ecotypes; GS-AOP, alkenyl-, hydroxypropyl-, or methylsulfinylalkyl-containing ecotypes; and GS-OH, functional or nonfunctional alleles.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Correlation of glucosinolate accumulation between the leaves and seeds. A, Scatter plot depicting the relationship between aliphatic glucosinolate accumulation in leaves (ALIPHL) and seeds (ALIPHS) of the ecotypes tested. The 90% confidence ellipse interval is drawn for reference. The values are in μmol g dry weight−1. B, Scatter plot depicting the relationship between indolic glucosinolate accumulation in the leaves (INDOLEL) and seeds (INDOLES) of the ecotypes tested. The values are in μmol g dry weight−1.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Map of GS-OX on Chromosome I. Ninety-two F2 progeny were scored for the microsatellites indicated and for the GS-OX biochemical phenotype. The distance from the AthGeneA and nga692 markers to GS-OX is shown in cM to the right of the arrows. The approximate location of GS-OX is shown to the left of the chromosome.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Correlation of C7 to C8 and C3 to C4 intermediates in the biosynthesis of chain-elongated Met-derived glucosinolates. A, Scatter plot showing the correlation of the conversion of C3 to C4 in the seeds and leaves. B, Scatter plot showing the correlation of the conversion of C7 to C8 in the seeds and leaves. C, Scatter plot showing the correlation of the conversion of C3 to C4 with C7 to C8 in the leaves. D, Scatter plot showing the correlation of the conversion of C3 to C4 with C7 to C8 in the seeds.
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