Characterization of Arabidopsis thaliana FLAVONOL SYNTHASE 1 (FLS1) -overexpression plants in response to abiotic stress

Published Date
Plant Physiology and Biochemistry
June 2016, Vol.103:133–142, doi:10.1016/j.plaphy.2016.03.010
Research article

• Author 

• Nguyen Hoai Nguyen ^a,b,1
• Jun Hyeok Kim ^a,1
• Jaeyoung Kwon ^a
• Chan Young Jeong ^a,b
• Wonje Lee ^a
• Dongho Lee ^a
• Suk-Whan Hong ^c
• Hojoung Lee ^a,b,,

• aDepartment of Biosystems and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Anam-dong 5-ga, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 136-713, Republic of Korea
• bInstitute of Life Science and Natural Resources, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Republic of Korea
• cDepartment of Molecular Biotechnology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Bioenergy Research Center, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea

Received 17 November 2015. Revised 7 March 2016. Accepted 7 March 2016. Available online 9 March 2016. 

Highlights

• •
  FLAVONOL SYNTHASE 1 (FLS1) expression was not induced by abscisic acid in Arabidopsis.
• •
  Overexpression of FLS1 altered seed coat color to light brown.
• •
  FLS1-OX and wild-type plants showed similar responses to stress conditions.

Abstract

Flavonoids are an important group of secondary metabolites that are involved in plant growth and contribute to human health. Many studies have focused on the biosynthesis pathway, biochemical characters, and biological functions of flavonoids. In this report, we showed that overexpression of FLS1 (FLS1-OX) not only altered seed coat color (resulting in a light brown color), but also affected flavonoid accumulation. Whereas fls1-3 mutants accumulated higher anthocyanin levels, FLS1-OX seedlings had lower levels than those of the wild-type. Besides, shoot tissues of FLS1-OX plants exhibited lower flavonol levels than those of the wild-type. However, growth performance and abiotic stress tolerance of FLS1-OX, fls1-3, and wild-type plants were not significantly different. Taken together, FLS1 can be manipulated (i.e., silenced or overexpressed) to redirect the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway toward anthocyanin production without negative effects on plant growth and development.

Keywords

Abscisic acid (ABA)

Abiotic stress

Anthocyanin

Flavonol

FLS1

Arabidopsis thaliana

Abbreviations used

ABA, Abscisic acid

DAB, 3,3′-Diaminobenzidine

DPBA, Diphenylboric acid 2-aminoethylester

DPPH, 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl

GFP, Green fluorescent protein

GUS, β-glucuronidase

MS, Murashige and Skoog

ROS, Reactive oxygen species

RT-PCR, Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction

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• PPTX (1.9M)

• ∗ 
  Corresponding author. Department of Biosystems and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Anam-dong 5-ga, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 136-713, Republic of Korea.

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