Bioconversion of stilbenes in genetically engineered root and cell cultures of tobacco

• DOI: 10.1038/srep45331
• Publication Date: 2017-03-27T09:43:42Z
• Authors: Diego Hidalgo; Ascensión Martíne...; Elisabeth Moyano; Roque Bru-Martínez; Purificación Corc...; Javier Palazon
• Keywords: Bioconversion; Nicotiana; 0301 basic medicine; Plant genetics; Genetically engineered root; Cell Culture Techniques; Molecular engineering in plants; Plant Roots; 7. Clean energy; Article; Mixed Function Oxygenases; 12. Responsible consumption; 03 medical and health sciences; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Tobacco; Stilbenes; Humans; Vitis; Plant Proteins; 0303 health sciences; Genètica vegetal; Methyltransferases; Bioquímica y Biología Molecular; Cell cultures; Plants, Genetically Modified; Biosynthetic Pathways; Resveratrol; Cytochrome P-450 CYP1B1; Genetic Engineering; Metabolic engineering

AbstractIt is currently possible to transfer a biosynthetic pathway from a plant to another organism. This system has been exploited to transfer the metabolic richness of certain plant species to other plants or even to more simple metabolic organisms such as yeast or bacteria for the production of high added value plant compounds. Another application is to bioconvert substrates into scarcer or biologically more interesting compounds, such as piceatannol and pterostilbene. These two resveratrol-derived stilbenes, which have very promising pharmacological activities, are found in plants only in small amounts. By transferring the human cytochrome P450 hydroxylase 1B1 (HsCYP1B1) gene to tobacco hairy roots and cell cultures, we developed a system able to bioconvert exogenous t-resveratrol into piceatannol in quantities near to mg L−1. Similarly, after heterologous expression of resveratrol O-methyltransferase from Vitis vinifera (VvROMT) in tobacco hairy roots, the exogenous t-resveratrol was bioconverted into pterostilbene. We also observed that both bioconversions can take place in tobacco wild type hairy roots (pRiA4, without any transgene), showing that unspecific tobacco P450 hydroxylases and methyltransferases can perform the bioconversion of t-resveratrol to give the target compounds, albeit at a lower rate than transgenic roots.