Identification of putative lignin biosynthesis genes in Betula pendula
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Identification of putative lignin biosynthesis genes in Betula pendula Song Chen1 · Yuming Zhao2 · Xiyang Zhao1 · Su Chen1 Received: 2 November 2019 / Accepted: 26 May 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Key message We identified 15 genes encoding enzymes for phenylpropanoid biosynthesis in the genome of birch by combining phylogenetic analysis and tissue-specific expression data. Abstract Lignin is one of the most abundant terrestrial biopolymers and is essential for plant structure and defense. An essential step in lignin formation is phenylpropanoid synthesis, we identified 120 gene models in 10 protein families encoding enzymes for phenylpropanoid biosynthesis in the genome of Betula pendula. The transcript abundance was determined for all 120 genes in xylem, root, leaf, and flower tissues using RNA-seq technology. We identified 15 genes that likely encode phenylpropanoid biosynthesis enzymes during wood formation. Ten of these genes are evolutionarily conserved compared to the lignin genes in Populus trichocarpa. Keywords Betula pendula · Lignin synthesis · Phenylpropanoid · RNA-seq · Transcription factors
Introduction Lignin is a class of complex organic polymers found in plants (Chiang 2002). Lignin is indispensable in higher plant structure and defense. Lignin is the generic term for a large group of aromatic polymers resulting from the oxidative combinatorial coupling of 4-hydroxy phenylpropanoids (Boerjan et al. 2003). These polymers are deposited predominantly in the walls of secondarily thickened cells, making them rigid and impervious (Vanholme et al. 2010). There are often economic benefits associated with reducing plant lignin content. For example, reducing the lignin content of pulp is advantageous to the paper industry, reducing lignin in grasses increases the digestibility of grasses by livestock, and lignin must be reduced substantially to make a plant a suitable bioenergy feedstock. However, reduction
Communicated by Peterson. * Su Chen [email protected] Xiyang Zhao [email protected] 1
State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
Information and Computer Engineering College, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
2
of lignin may cause the dwarfing of plants and may make plants more susceptible to infection by pathogens (Zhang et al. 2015). For example, although the content of lignin was decreased by 20–40% in the Arabidopsis thaliana ref8 (C3H) mutant, the growth and development of ref8 are inhibited, and ref8 mutant plants are susceptible to fungal infection (Renders et al. 2016). However, in other instances, the lignin content of cash crops can be reduced without negative consequences (Jiang et al. 2018, 2019). For example, when transgenic technology was used in ryegrass to reduce the expression of lignin synthetase (Tu et al. 2010), the content of flavonoids was decreased and the digestibility of ryegrass was increased, but the plants were not dwarfed and their
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