Terrence L. Graham

RNA Interference of Soybean Isoflavone Synthase Genes Leads to Silencing in Tissues Distal to the Transformation Site and to Enhanced Susceptibility to Phytophthora sojae

Isoflavones are thought to play diverse roles in plant-microbe interactions and are also potentially important to human nutrition and medicine. Isoflavone synthase (IFS) is a key enzyme for the formation of the isoflavones. Here, we examined the consequences of RNAi silencing of genes for this enzyme in soybean (Glycine max). Soybean cotyledon tissues were transformed with Agrobacterium rhizogenes carrying an RNAi silencing construct designed to silence expression of both copies of IFS genes. Approximately 50% of emerging roots were transformed with the RNAi construct, and most transformed roots exhibited >95% silencing of isoflavone accumulation. Silencing of IFS was also demonstrated throughout the entire cotyledon (in tissues distal to the transformation site) both by high-performance liquid chromatography analysis of isoflavones and by real-time reverse transcription-PCR. This distal silencing led to a nearly complete suppression of mRNA accumulation for both the IFS1 and IFS2 genes and of isoflavone accumulations induced by wounding or treatment with the cell wall glucan elicitor from Phytophthora sojae. Preformed isoflavone conjugates were not reduced in distal tissues, suggesting little turnover of these stored isoflavone pools. Distal silencing was established within just 5 d of transformation and was highly efficient for a 3- to 4-d period, after which it was no longer apparent in most experiments. Silencing of IFS was effective in at least two genotypes and led to enhanced susceptibility to P. sojae, disrupting both R gene-mediated resistance in roots and nonrace-specific resistance in cotyledon tissues. The soybean cotyledon system, already a model system for defense signal-response and cell-to-cell signaling, may provide a convenient and effective system for functional analysis of plant genes through gene silencing.

Flavonoid and flavonol glycoside metabolism in Arabidopsis

The molecular genetic analysis of Arabidopsis promises to add greatly to our understanding of secondary product pathways and their biological roles. This review focuses on flavonoid metabolism in Arabidopsis, a particularly relevant pathway for such analysis because it is so highly conserved in plants. Several of the biosynthetic enzymes of the phenylpropanoid and flavonoid pathways have been cloned and/or mapped to specific loci. Recent advances concerning the regulation of anthocyanin metabolism by light and by possible transcriptional activators (Myc- and Myb-like elements) are discussed as well as the possible roles of flavonols in cold acclimation, ultraviolet light protection and male fertility. The use of HPLC profiling for the discovery of additional metabolic and regulatory mutants is described. The identification of the major flavonol glycosides in wild-type Arabidopsis is given and the partial characterization of two new flavonol glycoside mutants discussed. The biochemical genetics for flavonol glycoside formation in soybean is presented as an example, and the high degree of specificity of the glycosyl transferases and the interesting diversity of the resulting flavonol glycosides are discussed. Hypotheses regarding the potential biological activities of the flavonoid conjugates and the possible regulatory roles of highly aglycone-specific glucosidases are presented.

Soybean flavonoid effects on and metabolism by Phytophthora sojae

Abstract Various soybean flavonoids were examined for their effects on the growth and development of Phytophthora sojae and for their metabolism by P. sojae . Three classes of molecules were identified based on their effects on growth. Coumestrol, biochanin A, genistein, naringenin and isorhamnetin were inhibitory at concentrations of 60-120 μM and were fungicidal at 240,μM. Quercetin and its 3- O -β- d -glucoside, isoquercitrin, caused significantly prolonged lags in P. sojae growth at 60-240 μM, but were not fungicidal at any of these concentrations. Daidzein, formononetin, kaempferol, apigenin, chrysin and rutin were not inhibitory over this range. P. sojae rapidly hydrolysed all flavonoid glycosides tested and metabolized several flavonoids to non-aromatic products. However, the aglycones of the most inhibitory compounds were not signficantly degraded. Metabolism of the compounds by P. sojae was a very early event and appeared to be associated predominantly with the hyphal tips. Several compounds had potentially interesting efrects on fungal morphology and development. For example, genistein and its conjugates caused a marked swelling of the hyphal tip and an increase in the number of oogonia formed.

RNAi Silencing of Genes for Elicitation or Biosynthesis of 5-Deoxyisoflavonoids Suppresses Race-Specific Resistance and Hypersensitive Cell Death in Phytophthora sojae Infected Tissues

Isoflavonoids are thought to play an important role in soybean (Glycine max) resistance to Phytophthora sojae. This was addressed by silencing two genes for their biosynthesis and a third gene controlling their elicitation. Silencing of genes for isoflavone synthase (IFS) or chalcone reductase (CHR) was achieved in soybean roots through an Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated RNAi approach. Effectiveness of silencing was followed both by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and high-performance liquid chromatography analyses. Silencing either IFS or CHR led to a breakdown of Rps-mediated resistance to race 1 of P. sojae in ‘W79’ (Rps 1c) or ‘W82’ (Rps 1k) soybean. Loss of resistance was accompanied by suppression of hypersensitive (HR) cell death in both cultivars and suppression of cell death-associated activation of hydrogen peroxide and peroxidase. The various results suggest that the 5-deoxyisoflavonoids play a critical role in the establishment of cell death and race-specific resistance. The P. sojae cell wall glucan elicitor, a potent elicitor of 5-deoxyisoflavonoids, triggered a cell death response in roots that was also suppressed by silencing either CHR or IFS. Furthermore, silencing of the elicitor-releasing endoglucanase (PR-2) led to a loss of HR cell death and race-specific resistance to P. sojae and also to a loss of isoflavone and cell death responses to cell wall glucan elicitor. Taken together, these results suggest that in situ release of active fragments from a general resistance elicitor (pathogen-associated molecular pattern) is necessary for HR cell death in soybean roots carrying resistance genes at the Rps 1 locus, and that this cell death response is mediated through accumulations of the 5-deoxyisoflavones.

Wound-Associated Competency Factors Are Required for the Proximal Cell Responses of Soybean to the Phytophthora sojae Wall Glucan Elicitor

Intact soybean (Glycine max L. [Merr.]) tissues show distinct proximal and distal cell responses to the Phytophthora sojae (Kauf. and Gerde.) wall glucan elicitor. Proximal cells respond with accumulations of glyceollin and phenolic polymers, whereas distal cells respond with an increase of isoflavone conjugates. Comparison of the activities of the P. sojae glucan in the classical cut cotyledon and a cotyledon infiltration assay suggests that the proximal, but not the distal, responses to elicitor require tissue wounding. Washing the surface of cut cotyledons prior to elicitor treatment also greatly diminishes the proximal responses, which can be restored in a dose-dependent manner by prior treatment of the washed cells with wound exudate from cut “donor” cotyledons. Thus, discrete wound-associated factors, which we term elicitation competency factors, are required for the proximal cell response to the glucan elicitor. The wound factors induce a competent state that is transient in nature. Maximal elicitor response is seen 2 to 3 h after wounding, and cells become elicitor nonresponsive after 4 h. Competency is markedly affected by the age of tissues; cotyledons become more inherently competent as they approach senescence. The time course of attainment of the competent state and its duration are strongly affected by light and temperature. Since the wound-associated competency factors can also be obtained from washings of hypersensitive lesions, we hypothesize that similar competency factors may be released from hypersensitively dying cells in incompatible infections. This event may program the immediately surrounding cells to make them competent for the proximal defense responses.

Lactofen induces isoflavone accumulation and glyceollin elicitation competency in soybean

Lactofen, the active ingredient of the soybean disease resistance-inducing herbicide, Cobra, induces large accumulations of isoflavone conjugates and aglycones in soybean tissues. The predominant isoflavones induced in cotyledon tissues are daidzein (and its conjugates) and formononetin and glycitein aglycones. The latter two isoflavones are usually present only at very low levels in soybean seedling tissues. In leaves, the predominant lactofen-induced isoflavones are daidzein and formononetin aglycones and the malonyl-glucosyl conjugate of genistein. Isoflavone induction also occurs in cells distal to the point of treatment, but is only weakly systemic. Lactofen also induces elicitation competency, the capacity of soybean cells to accumulate the pterocarpan phytoalexin glyceollin in response to glucan elicitors from the cell wall of the pathogen Phytophthora sojae. Comparison of the activity of a series of diphenyl ether herbicides demonstrated that while all diphenyl ethers tested induced some degree of elicitation competency, only certain ones induced isoflavone accumulation in the absence of glucan elicitor. As a group the diphenyl ethers are thought to inhibit protoporhyrinogen oxidase, eventually leading to singlet oxygen generation. Another singlet oxygen generator, rose bengal, also induced elicitation competency, but little isoflavone accumulation. It is hypothesized that diphenyl ether-induced activated oxygen species mimic some aspects of hypersensitive cell death, which leads to elicitation competency in infected tissues.