Expression of Atropa belladonna putrescine N-methyltransferase gene in root pericycle.
The cDNAs encoding putrescine N-methyltransferase (PMT), which catalyzes the S-adenosylmethionine-dependent N-methylation of putrescine at the first committed step in the biosynthetic pathways of tropane alkaloids, were isolated from Atropa belladonna and Hyoscyamus niger. These PMTs, however, lacked the N-terminal tandem repeat arrays previously found in Nicotiana PMTs. AbPMT1 RNA was much more abundant in the root of A. belladonna than was AbPMT2 RNA. The 5'-flanking region of the AbPMT1 gene was fused to the beta-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene and transferred to A. belladonna. Histochemical analysis showed that GUS is expressed specifically in root pericycle cells and that the 0.3-kb 5'-upstream region was sufficient for pericycle-specific expression. Treatment of A. belladonna roots with methyl jasmonate did not up-regulate the expression of GUS or endogenous AbPMT genes. The regulation of tropane alkaloid biosynthesis is discussed and compared with that of nicotine biosynthesis.[1]References
- Expression of Atropa belladonna putrescine N-methyltransferase gene in root pericycle. Suzuki, K., Yamada, Y., Hashimoto, T. Plant Cell Physiol. (1999) [Pubmed]
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