Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1341324

Investigating the spatiotemporal expression of CBTS genes lead to the discovery of tobacco root as a cembranoid-producing organ

Provisionally accepted
Zaifeng Du Zaifeng Du 1Tian Tian Tian Tian 1Yulong Gao Yulong Gao 2Jian Guan Jian Guan 1Fuzhu Ju Fuzhu Ju 1Shiquan Bian Shiquan Bian 1Jiahao Wang Jiahao Wang 1Xiaoyang Lin Xiaoyang Lin 1Bingwu Wang Bingwu Wang 2Zhihua Liao Zhihua Liao 3Yongmei Du Yongmei Du 1Zhongfeng Zhang Zhongfeng Zhang 1Hongbo Zhang Hongbo Zhang 1*
  • 1 Tobacco Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
  • 2 Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China
  • 3 College of Life Science, Southwest University, Chongqing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Tobacco cembranoids, known for their anti-insect and anti-fungal properties, were shown to be mainly present on the surface of leaves and flowers, being biosynthesized by their trichomes. It remains unclear whether they could be biosynthesized in other organs without trichomes. Cembratrien-ol synthases (CBTSs) catalyze the conversion of GGPP to CBT-ols and thus play an important role in cembranoid biosynthesis. This study here identified the CBTS family genes in tobacco and examined their spatiotemporal expression patterns. The CBTS genes showed diverse expression patterns in tobacco organs, with the majority highly expressed in leaves and a few highly expressed in flowers. The expression of CBTS genes were also correlated with the development of tobacco plants, and most of them showed the highest expression level at the budding stage. Furthermore, their expression is mediated by the JA (jasmonate) signaling in all tobacco organs. Several CBTS genes were found to be highly expressed in tobacco roots that have no trichomes, which prompted us to determine the cembranoid production in roots and other organs. GC-MS and UPLC assays revealed that cembranoids were produced in all tobacco organs, which was supported by the bioactivity assay results that almost all these CBTS enzymes could catalyze CBT-ol biosyntheis in yeast, and that the content ratio of CBT-ols and CBT-diols in tobacco roots was different to that in leaves. This work shed new insights on the transcription profiles of tobacco CBTS genes and provided a theoretical feasibility for metabolic engineering of tobacco roots for industrial production of cembranoids.

    Keywords: CBTS genes, Tobacco, Cembranoid, Spatiotemporal expression, root

    Received: 20 Nov 2023; Accepted: 07 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Du, Tian, Gao, Guan, Ju, Bian, Wang, Lin, Wang, Liao, Du, Zhang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Hongbo Zhang, Tobacco Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Qingdao, 266101, Shandong Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.