Genetic analysis of pathway regulation for enhancing branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis in plants

Hao Chen, Kristen Saksa, Feiyi Zhao, Joyce Qiu, Liming Xiong*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

38 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) valine, leucine and isoleucine are essential amino acids that play critical roles in animal growth and development. Animals cannot synthesize these amino acids and must obtain them from their diet. Plants are the ultimate source of these essential nutrients, and they synthesize BCAAs through a conserved pathway that is inhibited by its end products. This feedback inhibition has prevented scientists from engineering plants that accumulate high levels of BCAAs by simply over-expressing the respective biosynthetic genes. To identify components critical for this feedback regulation, we performed a genetic screen for Arabidopsis mutants that exhibit enhanced resistance to BCAAs. Multiple dominant allelic mutations in the VALINE-TOLERANT 1 (VAT1) gene were identified that conferred plant resistance to valine inhibition. Map-based cloning revealed that VAT1 encodes a regulatory subunit of acetohydroxy acid synthase (AHAS), the first committed enzyme in the BCAA biosynthesis pathway. The VAT1 gene is highly expressed in young, rapidly growing tissues. When reconstituted with the catalytic subunit in vitro, the vat1 mutant-containing AHAS holoenzyme exhibits increased resistance to valine. Importantly, transgenic plants expressing the mutated vat1 gene exhibit valine tolerance and accumulate higher levels of BCAAs. Our studies not only uncovered regulatory characteristics of plant AHAS, but also identified a method to enhance BCAA accumulation in crop plants that will significantly enhance the nutritional value of food and feed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)573-583
Number of pages11
JournalThe Plant Journal
Volume63
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2010

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Genetics
  • Plant Science
  • Cell Biology

User-Defined Keywords

  • ACT domain
  • AHAS
  • BCAA
  • branched-chain amino acids
  • essential amino acids
  • valine resistance

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