Phenolic Compounds in Ectomycorrhizal Interaction of Lignin Modified Silver Birch
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BMC Plant Biology BioMed Central Research article Open Access Phenolic compounds in ectomycorrhizal interaction of lignin modified silver birch Suvi Sutela*1, Karoliina Niemi2, Jaanika Edesi1, Tapio Laakso3, Pekka Saranpää3, Jaana Vuosku1, Riina Mäkelä1, Heidi Tiimonen4, Vincent L Chiang5, Janne Koskimäki1, Marja Suorsa1, Riitta Julkunen-Tiitto6 and Hely Häggman1 Address: 1Department of Biology, University of Oulu, PO Box 3000, 90014 Oulu, Finland, 2Department of Applied Biology, University of Helsinki, PO Box 27, 00014 Helsinki, Finland, 3Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Unit, Jokiniemenkuja 1, 01301 Vantaa, Finland, 4Finnish Forest Research Institute, Punkaharju Research Unit, Finlandiantie 18, 58450 Punkaharju, Finland, 5Forest Biotechnology Research Group, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, College of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 7247, 2500, Partners II Building, Raleigh, NC 27695-7247, USA and 6Department of Biology, University of Joensuu, PO Box 111, 80101 Joensuu, Finland Email: Suvi Sutela* - [email protected]; Karoliina Niemi - [email protected]; Jaanika Edesi - [email protected]; Tapio Laakso - [email protected]; Pekka Saranpää - [email protected]; Jaana Vuosku - [email protected]; Riina Mäkelä - [email protected]; Heidi Tiimonen - [email protected]; Vincent L Chiang - [email protected]; Janne Koskimäki - [email protected]; Marja Suorsa - [email protected]; Riitta Julkunen-Tiitto - riitta.julkunen- [email protected]; Hely Häggman - [email protected] * Corresponding author Published: 29 September 2009 Received: 20 February 2009 Accepted: 29 September 2009 BMC Plant Biology 2009, 9:124 doi:10.1186/1471-2229-9-124 This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2229/9/124 © 2009 Sutela et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Background: The monolignol biosynthetic pathway interconnects with the biosynthesis of other secondary phenolic metabolites, such as cinnamic acid derivatives, flavonoids and condensed tannins. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether genetic modification of the monolignol pathway in silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.) would alter the metabolism of these phenolic compounds and how such alterations, if exist, would affect the ectomycorrhizal symbiosis. Results: Silver birch lines expressing quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides L.) caffeate/5- hydroxyferulate O-methyltransferase (PtCOMT) under the 35S cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) promoter showed a reduction in the relative expression of a putative silver birch COMT (BpCOMT) gene and, consequently, a decrease in the lignin syringyl/guaiacyl composition ratio. Alterations were also detected in concentrations of certain phenolic compounds. All PtCOMT silver birch lines produced normal ectomycorrhizas with the ectomycorrhizal fungus Paxillus involutus (Batsch: Fr.), and the formation of symbiosis enhanced the growth of the transgenic plants. Conclusion: The down-regulation of BpCOMT in the 35S-PtCOMT lines caused a reduction in the syringyl/guaiacyl ratio of lignin, but no significant effect was seen in the composition or quantity of phenolic compounds that would have been caused by the expression of PtCOMT under the 35S or UbB1 promoter. Moreover, the detected alterations in the composition of lignin and secondary phenolic compounds had no effect on the interaction between silver birch and P. involutus. Page 1 of 15 (page number not for citation purposes) BMC Plant Biology 2009, 9:124 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2229/9/124 Background strates [17,18], but further studies demonstrated that The phenylpropanoid pathway gives rise to a variety of COMT is especially involved in the biosynthesis of S compounds that are used in the biosynthesis of cinnamic lignin [19-22] and, furthermore, that the methylation acid derivatives, lignin, flavonoids and condensed tan- occurs at 5-hydroxyconiferaldehyde and (or) 5-hydroxy- nins. These phenolic compounds form a diverse group of coniferyl alcohol as shown with various angiosperm spe- secondary metabolites, exhibiting numerous biological cies [14,23-26]. However, the substrate preferences of functions in plants. In the Betula species, the phenolic COMT may vary between species being, for instance, rela- compound concentrations vary according to the develop- tively board in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) [24] and wheat ment phase of the plant [1,2], clone [2-4] or plant part [5] (Triticum aestivum L.) [26]. Some of the enzymes having and to different environmental factors [2,4,5]. Moreover, COMT activity are probably bifunctional as in the case of tannins and specific flavonoids have been shown to play Arabidopsis thaliana OMT (At5g54160) which is involved a role in defence against herbivory [6] and protection in both lignin and flavonoid biosynthesis [12,27,28]. against UVB radiation [1,7-9]. In addition to the phenolic compound profiles of different Betula species, the general Silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) is one of the key species outline of the phenylpropanoid pathway of the species is in boreal forest ecosystems and, in addition, economically also well known [4]. the most important deciduous tree species in Nordic countries. In Finland, based on the national forest inven- The secondary cell wall is essential for the conduction of tory performed during years 2004 through 2007 approxi- water and the structural integrity of vascular plants as well mately 16% of growing stock was birch (363 mill. m3) as for defence against insect herbivores and pathogens. [29]. The birch roundwood is used as a raw material in the The secondary cell wall is composed of multiple layers of chemical pulp industry but also in plywood production. cellulose microfibrils embedded in a matrix of hemicellu- Moreover, birch is an important source of energywood: in lose, lignin and pectin. Lignin, probably the most studied 2007 wood-based fuels covered one fifth (295PJ) of the phenolic compound, is composed of monomers derived total energy consumption in Finland [30]. from the monolignol biosynthetic pathway [10]. In hard- woods, coniferyl, sinapyl and p-coumaryl alcohol are the Boreal forest trees live in a mutualistic association with main lignin monomers, giving rise to guaiacyl (G), ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi, which enables growth in syringyl (S) and p-hydroxyphenyl (H) phenylpropanoid the nutrient-poor, acidic soils. The formation of ECM units, respectively, when polymerized to the lignin mole- symbiosis causes changes in the transcription levels of cule. These hydroxycinnamyl alcohols differ in their both partners [31-34], resulting in morphological and degree of methylation and, consequently, form varying physiological alterations. The proliferation of root hairs is linkage types in the lignin, determining the solubility of inhibited and the epidermal cells of feeder roots in the polymer. In sinapyl alcohol, the C-5 position of the angiosperms elongate radially as the fungus penetrates aromatic ring is methylated, which prevents the formation into the intercellular space of the epidermis. The fungal of strong linkage types that are typical for G units. hyphae that cover feeder roots are also a source of an Angiosperm lignin consists mainly of G and S monomers external hyphal net. These distinctive alterations in the and is more easily delignified than the G unit rich gymno- symbiotic partners ensure the effective exchange of water sperm lignin. The monolignol biosynthetic pathway is and nutrients from the fungal partner to the carbohy- still under debate, partly because the enzymes involved in drates of the plant [35]. ECM formation has also been the pathway are multifunctional and exhibit broad sub- observed to alter the expression levels of genes involved in strate specificity, at least in vitro, making several alternative the phenylpropanoid pathway [32,33,36] and the con- reaction orders possible. The most updated view of the centrations of phenolic compounds [37-43]. However, angiosperm monolignol biosynthetic pathway is pre- the results have been rather inconsistent. sented by Li et al. [11], Do et al. [12] and Vanholme et al. [13]. Transgenic plants have great potential for future agricul- ture, silviculture and biofuel production. Increasing the The caffeate/5-hydroxyferulate O-methyltransferase pest and disease resistance of plants as well as improving (COMT) (EC 2.1.1.68), also known as 5-hydroxyconiferyl wood quality and enhancing wood production have been aldehyde O-methyltransferase (AldOMT) [14] catalyses the targets of both conventional breeding and genetic the methylation of the C-5 position of angiosperms' S pre- engineering. From an industrial point of view, lignin qual- cursors. COMT belongs to the plant Class II O-methyl- ity and content are of particular interest. The removal of transferases (OMTs) together with enzymes that lignin in chemical pulping is a costly process which could methylate numerous phenolic compounds, such as phe- be facilitated with more soluble lignin and lower lignin nylpropenes and flavonols [15,16]. Initially COMT was content [44]. A reduction in lignin content would also be shown to use caffeic acid and 5-hydroxyferulate as sub- beneficial for the