A 13C NMR Study Using Isotopically Labeled Precursors
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3298 J. Agric. Food Chem. 2000, 48, 3298−3304 Biosynthesis, Molecular Structure, and Domain Architecture of Potato Suberin: A 13C NMR Study Using Isotopically Labeled Precursors Bin Yan and Ruth E. Stark* Department of Chemistry, Graduate School and College of Staten Island of the City University of New York, 2800 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, New York 10314 Although suberin in potato wound periderm is known to be a polyester containing long-chain fatty acids and phenolics embedded within the cell wall, many aspects of its molecular structure and polymer-polymer connectivities remain elusive. The present work combines biosynthetic incorpora- tion of site-specifically 13C-enriched acetates and phenylalanines with one- and two-dimensional solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopic methods to monitor the developing suberin polymer. Exogenous acetate is found to be incorporated preferentially at the carboxyl end of the aliphatic carbon chains, suggesting addition during the later elongation steps of fatty acid synthesis. Carboxyl-labeled phenylalanine precursors provide evidence for the concurrent development of phenolic esters and of monolignols typical of lignin. Experiments with ring-labeled phenylalanine precursors demonstrate a predominance of sinapyl and guaiacyl structures among suberin’s phenolic moieties. Finally, the analysis of spin-exchange (solid-state NOESY) NMR experiments in ring-labeled suberin indicates distances of no more than 0.5 nm between pairs of phenolic and oxymethine carbons, which are attributed to the aromatic-aliphatic polyester and the cell wall polysaccharide matrix, respectively. These results offer direct and detailed molecular information regarding the insoluble intermediates of suberin biosynthesis, indicate probable covalent linkages between moieties of its polyester and polysaccharide domains, and yield a clearer overall picture of this agriculturally important protective material. Keywords: Suberin; cell wall; potato; wound healing; Solanum tuberosum; biosynthesis; polymer; polyester; polysaccharide; 13C NMR; solid-state NMR; CPMAS; spin-exchange; spin diffusion; NOESY INTRODUCTION upon the ability of the biopolymer to protect cell wall tissues. Suberized potato tissue, a polymeric plant material Historically, two general approaches have been taken isolated readily from wound periderm, has long been a to the study of suberin’s molecular structure. First, model system for studying the molecular structure and depolymerization or extraction methods may be used protective functions of suberin. Its chemical constituents along with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass include long-chain fatty acids as the aliphatic compo- spectrometry to identify monomeric and oligomeric nent (Kolattukudy, 1980, 1984) and phenolic derivatives fragments and then conceptually reconstruct the origi- as the aromatic component (Cottle and Kolattukudy, nal polymer (Kolattukudy and Agrawal, 1974; Cottle 1982; Bernards and Lewis, 1992; Bernards et al., 1995). and Kolattukudy, 1982; Bernards and Lewis, 1992). The aliphatics and aromatics are believed to be linked Alternatively, it is possible to identify structural types by ester bonds (Kolattukudy, 1980), a hypothesis con- directly within intact suberin using solid-state NMR sistent with the analysis of suberin extracts (Bernards (Stark et al., 1989, 1994; Stark and Garbow, 1992). The and Lewis, 1992). Even after exhaustive enzymatic information content of the former approach may be removal of carbohydrates and extraction with organic compromised by either incomplete depolymerization - solvents, the aliphatic aromatic suberin polymer re- (biased representation of the biopolymer) or exhaustive mains insoluble and inseparable from the cell wall breakdown (destruction of connectivities between the polysaccharides. Thus, suberized potato may be a tightly monomeric units); multistep chemical procedures are associated plant polymer blend or a copolymer in which usually also required. The latter strategy provides different domains are linked covalently to each other information that is more directly applicable to the native (Bernards and Lewis, 1998; Yan and Stark, 1998). plant membrane, but the structural complexity of Nonetheless, the polymerization steps of its biosynthesis suberized plant tissue can make it challenging to deduce are largely unknown, and the nature of the covalent detailed molecular information unless the polyester is connectivities within suberin and to the cell wall labeled with spectroscopically sensitive isotopes (Ber- polysaccharides has remained quite speculative. These nards et al., 1995). limitations hamper efforts to understand or improve In the present work, both aliphatic and aromatic 13C- labeled precursors have been used along with solid-state * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. NMR methods to obtain new molecular-level informa- Phone: (718) 982-3894. Fax: (718) 982-4077. E-mail: tion regarding the biosynthesis and domain architecture [email protected]. of potato suberin. The biosynthetic fates of acetate and 10.1021/jf000155q CCC: $19.00 © 2000 American Chemical Society Published on Web 07/26/2000 Biosynthesis and Molecular Structure of Suberin J. Agric. Food Chem., Vol. 48, No. 8, 2000 3299 phenylalanine precursors have been examined qualita- tively and quantitatively for the intact plant tissue, making careful comparisons with unlabeled materials and gaining additional information from spectral editing experiments. In addition, two-dimensional solid-state spin-exchange 13C NMR has been used to critically evaluate the covalent connectivity of suberin aromatics to carbons of the phenylpropanoid side chain or the cell wall polysaccharides. These findings augment our mo- lecular picture of the mechanism by which suberin controls water diffusion and protects cell wall polysac- charides from pathogenic attack. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES Chemicals. The following compounds were purchased from Cambridge Isotope Laboratories (Andover, MA): [1-13C]-, 13 13 13 13 [2- C]-, and [1,2- C2]sodium acetates; [1- C]- and [ring- C6]- L-phenylalanine. All materials were enriched to 99% or better with stable isotopes. Tissue culture water (Sigma Chemical, Aurora, OH) was used to dissolve the 13C-enriched compounds and moisten the suberizing wound periderm in each experi- Figure 1. Effects of a [1-13C]sodium acetate precursor on the ment. The enzymes Aspergillus niger cellulase (EC 3.2.1.4) and CPMAS 13C NMR spectra of potato suberin: (top) 13C-Labeled A. niger pectinase (EC 3.2.1.15) were purchased from ICN sample; (middle) natural-abundance (12C) control sample; Biomedicals (Aurora, OH) and Sigma Chemical, respectively. (bottom) Difference spectrum. Both samples were incubated Other laboratory chemicals were of reagent grade or better. for 7 days after wounding. The peak areas in each spectrum Preparation of Enriched Potato Suberin. Suberization reflect the numbers of the various carbon types, since CP - of wounded potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Russet Bur- buildup is complete within 0.8 1.1 ms and intensity losses bank) and suberin isolation followed published procedures from proton relaxation in the rotating frame are closely (Pacchiano et al., 1993; Bernards et al., 1995; Yan and Stark, comparable (Stark and Garbow, 1992). 1998). In separate experiments, each batch of sterilized 3 potatoes was cut into 5 × 20 × 30-mm disks and then soaked 13 13 spin-exchange experiment was modified so that the initial C in 100 mM solutions of the C-enriched precursors for 20 min magnetization was built up by cross-polarization instead of before incubation in a dark aerated chamber regulated at 25 using a simple 90° pulse (Bardet et al., 1997). This sequence °C. To minimize any effects of changing concentration as a is essentially a 2D nuclear Overhauser experiment (Jeener et particular chemical solution was applied to successive tuber al., 1979) in which cross-talk is allowed between dipolar- samples, the slices were arranged in a rectangular grid so that coupled 1H and 13C nuclei during mixing times of 0.01-2s, soaking proceeded across the rows and harvesting proceeded with consequent changes in off-diagonal 13C cross-peak inten- down the columns. This precaution was especially important sity. Spin diffusion among the carbons is driven by the protons; for time course studies in which the tubers were harvested no 1H decoupling is applied during the mixing period. The 2D after varying incubation times (1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 days, spectra were obtained by collecting 64 transients of 960 points respectively). The post suberization isolation procedures were each for each of 256 time increments, applying a line broaden- as follows: blade peeling of the periderm layer from each ing of 200 Hz, and zero filling to 1024 data points in both potato slice; thorough stirring with distilled water to remove dimensions before the final 2D Fourier transformation and soluble starch and residual precursors; treatment with cellu- data symmetrization. Spectral analyses were performed using lase and pectinase to remove cellulose and pectin, respectively; the Varian VNMR software package, with 13C chemical shifts Soxhlet extraction of the pea-sized flakes of periderm with referenced to tetramethylsilane (TMS) (Pacchiano et al., 1993) methylene chloride-methanol (1:1 v/v) to remove waxes; - or the major polysaccharide peak at 72 ppm. Chemical-shift extraction with dioxane H2O (96:4 v/v) to remove residual predictions for aromatic acids were made using database glucose or