AOBPreview originally published online on July 18, 2006
Annals of Botany 2006 98(4):819-825; doi:10.1093/aob/mcl162
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Evaluation of Metabolic Alteration in Transgenic Rice Overexpressing Dihydroflavonol-4-reductase
1 Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan, 2 Plant Molecular Biology Group, Laboratory of Environmental Science, Central Research Institute Electric Power Industry, 1646 Abiko, Chiba 270-1194, Japan, 3 Institute for Advanced Biosciences, University of Keio, Tsuruoka, Yamagata 997-0017, Japan and 4 Iwate Biotechnology Research Center, Kitakami, Iwate 024-0003, Japan
* For correspondence. E-mail uchimiya{at}iam.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Received: 6 April 2006 Returned for revision: 10 May 2006 Accepted: 1 June 2006 Published electronically: 18 July 2006
| ABSTRACT |
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Background and Aims Previous studies have shown that transgenic rice plants overexpressing YK1, which possesses dihydroflavonol-4-reductase (DFR) activity, showed biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. High throughput profiles of metabolites have also been shown in such transgenic plants by Fourier transform ion cyclotron mass spectrometry. In this study, capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry analysis (CE/MS) was employed to identify precise metabolites such as organic acids, amino acids and sugars.
Methods Using CE/MS, we analysed several metabolites of glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and the pentose phosphate pathway. In addition, the concentrations of sugars and ion were quantified.
Key Results In YK1 (DFR)-overexpressing plants, the concentrations of cis-aconitate, isocitrate and 2-oxoglutarate were higher in leaves, whereas those of fructose-1,6-bisphosphate and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate were lower in roots. In seeds, the amounts of free amino acids and metals were altered, whereas sugars in seeds were kept constant. In YK1 calli, an approx. 3-fold increase in glutathione was observed, whereas the activities of glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase were concomitantly increased.
Conclusions The overexpression of YK1 (DFR) was associated with slight changes in the amounts of several metabolites analysed in whole plants, whilst glutathione derivatives were substantially increased in suspension-cultured cells.
Key words: Metabolome, dihydroflavonol-4-reductase, capillary electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, rice, Oryza sativa
| INTRODUCTION |
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Metabolome analysis (Fiehn et al., 2000
In recent years, capillary electrophoresis electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (CE/MS) has opened a way to detect charged compounds such as carboxylic acids, amino acids and nucleotides (Soga et al., 2000
, 2002a
, b
). Sato et al. (2004)
quantified 88 primary metabolites in rice leaves by CE/MS, where the time-dependent alterations of metabolites were noted. Additionally, CE/MS revealed that the amount of metabolites engaged in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle was altered in transgenic rice expressing the antisense methylmalonate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase gene (Tanaka et al., 2005
).
Previously, it was demonstrated that rice overexpressing the YK1gene, the homologue of the HC-toxin reductase (HCTR) gene, in rice showed enhancement of tolerance to ultraviolet irradiation, salt, submergence, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and blast disease (Uchimiya et al., 2002
). Besides HCTR activity, YK1 also possessed dihydroflavonol-4-reductase (DFR; EC 1·1·1·219) activity (Hayashi et al., 2005
). Furthermore, the overexpression of YK1 induced the activation of enzymes in the NAD synthetic pathway, which resulted in an increase in the amounts of NAD(P)(H). These results implied that the coupled increase of DFR activity and amounts of NAD(P)(H) may contribute to biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. Furthermore, non-target metabolite analysis of YK1 plants was investigated by FT-MS (Takahashi et al., 2005
).
Rice is an important cereal for the human diet. Although a number of transgenic rice plants have been generated so far, no reports on systematic comparison of major metabolites have been published. Thus a quantitative comparison is presented of the concentrations of known metabolites, sugars and ions in hygromycin-resistant transgenic rice overexpressing the DFR gene, and transgenic rice with the hygromycin-resistant gene alone.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Materials
Transgenic rice plants (Oryza sativa L. Nipponbare) expressing the YK1 gene under the control of the maize ubiquitous promoter were used (Uchimiya et al., 2002
Measurement of anthocyanin content
Measurement of anthocyanin was performed as described by Suneetha et al. (2002)
. Plant samples were extracted with acidified methanol (1 % HCl, v/v) for 24 h in darkness at 4 °C. The cuvette was placed in a spectrophotometer for measurement at 530 nm (anthocyanin and chlorophyll) and 657 nm (chlorophyll). The content of anthocyanin, A530nm 0·25A657nm, was expressed as anthocyanin per gram fresh weight (g f. wt).
CE/MS
The amounts of metabolites were quantified by the method described by Sato et al. (2004)
with minor modification. Frozen samples were ground in liquid nitrogen, followed by addition of ice-cooled methanol to deactivate the enzymes. After the addition of an internal standard [piperazine-N,N'-bis(2-ethanesulfonate) (PIPES) and methionine sulfone (MeS)] for the correct quantification, the sample solution was centrifuged. The supernatant was transferred to a 5 kDa cut-off filter (Millipore, Bedford, MA, USA) and then centrifuged at 15 000 rpm for 30 min and the filtrate was analysed by CE/MS. The method used for CE/MS was based on that described by Soga et al. (2002a
). Mass spectra were acquired using the CE/MS system controlled by ChemStation software (Agilent Technologies, Waldbronn, Germany). For the determination of anionic compounds, separations were carried out at 20 kV on a polyethylene glycol-coated capillary (DB-WAX, J&W Scientific, Folsom, CA, USA, 100 cm x 50 µm i.d.) using a running buffer containing 20 mM ammonium acetate (pH 6·8) at 20 °C. The sheath liquid was composed of 2 mM ammonium acetate in 50 % (v/v) methanol and was applied around the capillary at 6 µL min1 using an Agilent 1100 series isocratic HPLC pump equipped with a 1 : 100 splitter for the stabilization of MS analysis. When amino acids were analysed, the samples were injected into the uncoated fused silica capillary (70 cm x 50 µm i.d.) with 1 M formic acid (pH 1·9) as running buffer and 0·1 % formic acid in 50 % (v/v) methanol as a sheath liquid. The applied voltage was set at 20 V. MS analysis for anionic compounds was carried out in negative ion mode, and amino acids were determined in positive ion mode. The capillary voltage was set at ±3500 V and the drying nitrogen gas (adjusted at 320 °C) flow was maintained at 8 L min1. The accuracy was determined by the measurement of known concentrations of selected compounds.
Reference reagents
Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate (FBP), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (GA3P), 3-phosphoglycerate (3PGA), pyruvate, citrate, cis-aconitate, isocitrate, 2-oxoglutarate, succinate, fumarate, malate, glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), 6-phosphogluconate (6PG), ribose-5-phosphate (R5P), nicotinate and PIPES were purchased from Nacalai Tesque Inc. (Kyoto, Japan). MeS was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Japan (Tokyo, Japan). All chemicals used were analytical grade.
Quantification of sugar contents
Purification of starch from rice seeds was based on the method of Echt and Schwarts (1981)
. Total sugars and amylose were quantified as described by Itoh et al. (2004)
. A 10 mg aliquot of powdered seed was mixed with a solution containing 10 % (v/v) ethanol and 400 mM NaOH. After boiling at 100 °C for 10 min, the solution was centrifuged at 15 000 rpm for 5 min. The supernatant was collected and Milli-Q water was added. After the adjustment to pH 6·0, the total sugar content was determined by the phenol sulfate method (Dubois et al., 1956
). For determination of amylose contents, the starch solution was diluted to 0·05 % (w/v) with Milli-Q water. After the addition of iodide solution [final 0·003 % (w/v) iodine and 0·03 % (w/v) potassium iodide] to the starch solution, absorbance was measured at 620 nm.
Analysis of metals
Quantification of the metal concentration was according to Goto et al. (1999)
. Leaves and roots from 7-day-old seedlings were harvested and freeze-dried. Seeds were dried at 65 °C. Samples were ground and wet-ashed with 2 ml of HNO3 and H2O2 overnight at 110 °C. These samples were then dissolved in 15 ml of 1 N HCl and the concentrations of Mg, P, K, Ca, Mn and Fe were measured using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP; type P-4000, Hitachi, Japan).
Preparation of enzyme extract
A 300 mg aliquot of frozen calli was homogenized with liquid nitrogen and mixed with 3 ml of extraction buffer [50 mM potassium phosphate, pH 7·0, 10 % (w/v) sucrose, 1 mM dithiothreitol (DTT) and 5 mM sodium ascorbate). The homogenate was then centrifuged at 15 000 rpm for 10 min, and the resulting supernatant was used for enzyme assay.
Enzyme assay
Enzymatic activities were measured spectrophotometrically using Ultrospec 3000 (Pharmacia Biotech). The assays for catalase (CAT; EC 1·11·1·6), ascorbate peroxidase (APX; EC 1·11·1·11) and glutathione reductase (GR; EC 1·8·1·7) were conducted according to Saruyama and Tanida (1995)
with a minor modification. CAT activity was quantified by the loss of H2O2 as measured at 240 nm. The reaction was started by the addition of 500 mM H2O2 to the reaction mixture containing 50 mM potassium phosphate, pH 7·0, and enzyme extract. The activity was calculated from decomposition of µmol H2O2 min1 mg protein1. APX activity was measured by monitoring the decrease of absorbance at 290 nm. The reaction mixture was composed of 50 mM potassium phosphate, pH 7·0, 5 µM ascorbate, and enzyme extract, and the reaction was started by the addition of 10 mM H2O2. The activity was calculated from oxidation of nmol ascorbate min1 mg protein1. Glutathione peroxidase (GPX; EC 1·11·1·9) activity was measured by following the rate of NADPH oxidation at 340 nm using the procedure previously described (Mittova et al., 2003
). The reaction mixture contained 50 mM potassium phosphate, 1 mM EDTA, 0·2 mM NADPH, 1 mM glutathione (GSH), 0·1 mM H2O2, 2 U of GR and enzyme extract at pH 7·0. GR activity was followed by the decrease of absorbance at 340 nm, resulting from the NADPH oxidation. The reaction mixture was composed of 50 mM potassium phosphate, 0·8 mM EDTA, 0·5 mM GSSG (oxidized glutathione), 0·2 mM NADPH and enzyme extract at pH 7·0. GPX and GR activities were calculated from oxidation of nmol NADPH min1 mg protein1.
Protein concentration was measured by the method of Bradford (1976)
with a protein assay kit (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA, USA).
| RESULTS AND DISCUSSION |
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In this study, quantification of metabolites in transgenic YK1 rice plants and calli (two independent transgenic lines: L-1 and L-2; Uchimiya et al., 2002
Recently, metabolome analysis by CE/MS was established to identify the charged metabolites of Bacillus subtilis cells (Soga et al., 2002a
, b
) and rice (Sato et al., 2004
). Here we carried out a similar analysis in transgenic YK1 rice plants by CE/MS and compared the amounts of metabolites in plants and calli of control and YK1 rice. Because NAD(P)H synthesis was upregulated in transgenic YK1 rice plants (Hayashi et al., 2005
), metabolites involved in glycolysis, the TCA cycle, the pentose phosphate pathway and their neighbouring pathways were analysed. The detected metabolites were identified by comparing their m/z values and migration times with those of various standard metabolites. The amount of each metabolite was calculated from peak areas of the corresponding standards.
In the leaves, the amounts of TCA metabolites such as cis-aconitate, isocitrate and 2-oxoglutarate were higher in both YK1 lines than in the control. In the roots of both YK1 transgenic plants, the amounts of FBP, GA3P and isocitrate were lower (approx. 50 %) than in the control. Furthermore, TCA metabolites such as cis-aconitate, isocitrate and 2-oxoglutarate were lower than in the control, with the exception of citrate in the roots of both transgenic YK1 lines (Table 1).
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Table 2 shows the composition of free amino acids (FAAs) in the leaves and roots of the control plants and both transgenic rice plants. In the leaves, there were no significant differences between the samples, except for threonine. In the roots, arginine tended to be lower in YK1 lines compared with the control. FAAs amounts were similar to those reported by Chen et al. (2004)
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In YK1 calli, different metabolic patterns were observed. Among the FAAs, aspartate and glutamine were decreased (Table 6). Since these amino acids are precursors of NAD in plants, this decrease may be caused by the activation of NAD synthesis (Hayashi et al., 2005
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| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
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This research was supported in part by a grant from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery, Japan and CREST, JST, Japan.
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