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Brouckaert M, Peng M, Höfer R, El Houari I, Darrah C, Storme V, Saeys Y, Vanholme R, Goeminne G, Timokhin VI, Ralph J, Morreel K, Boerjan W. QT-GWAS: A novel method for unveiling biosynthetic loci affecting qualitative metabolic traits. Mol Plant 2023; 16:1212-1227. [PMID: 37349988 PMCID: PMC7614782 DOI: 10.1016/j.molp.2023.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2022] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023]
Abstract
Although the plant kingdom provides an enormous diversity of metabolites with potentially beneficial applications for humankind, a large fraction of these metabolites and their biosynthetic pathways remain unknown. Resolving metabolite structures and their biosynthetic pathways is key to gaining biological understanding and to allow metabolic engineering. In order to retrieve novel biosynthetic genes involved in specialized metabolism, we developed a novel untargeted method designated as qualitative trait GWAS (QT-GWAS) that subjects qualitative metabolic traits to a genome-wide association study, while the conventional metabolite GWAS (mGWAS) mainly considers the quantitative variation of metabolites. As a proof of the validity of QT-GWAS, 23 and 15 of the retrieved associations identified in Arabidopsis thaliana by QT-GWAS and mGWAS, respectively, were supported by previous research. Furthermore, seven gene-metabolite associations retrieved by QT-GWAS were confirmed in this study through reverse genetics combined with metabolomics and/or in vitro enzyme assays. As such, we established that CYTOCHROME P450 706A5 (CYP706A5) is involved in the biosynthesis of chroman derivatives, UDP-GLYCOSYLTRANSFERASE 76C3 (UGT76C3) is able to hexosylate guanine in vitro and in planta, and SULFOTRANSFERASE 202B1 (SULT202B1) catalyzes the sulfation of neolignans in vitro. Collectively, our study demonstrates that the untargeted QT-GWAS method can retrieve valid gene-metabolite associations at the level of enzyme-encoding genes, even new associations that cannot be found by the conventional mGWAS, providing a new approach for dissecting qualitative metabolic traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlies Brouckaert
- Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Meng Peng
- Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - René Höfer
- Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Ilias El Houari
- Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Chiarina Darrah
- Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Véronique Storme
- Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Yvan Saeys
- Ghent University, Department of Applied Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; VIB Center for Inflammation Research, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Ruben Vanholme
- Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Geert Goeminne
- Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, 9052 Ghent, Belgium; VIB Metabolomics Core, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Vitaliy I Timokhin
- Department of Biochemistry, and US Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - John Ralph
- Department of Biochemistry, and US Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Kris Morreel
- Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Wout Boerjan
- Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, 9052 Ghent, Belgium.
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de Vries L, Brouckaert M, Chanoca A, Kim H, Regner MR, Timokhin VI, Sun Y, De Meester B, Van Doorsselaere J, Goeminne G, Chiang VL, Wang JP, Ralph J, Morreel K, Vanholme R, Boerjan W. CRISPR-Cas9 editing of CAFFEOYL SHIKIMATE ESTERASE 1 and 2 shows their importance and partial redundancy in lignification in Populus tremula × P. alba. Plant Biotechnol J 2021; 19:2221-2234. [PMID: 34160888 PMCID: PMC8541784 DOI: 10.1111/pbi.13651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2021] [Revised: 06/10/2021] [Accepted: 06/18/2021] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Lignins are cell wall-located aromatic polymers that provide strength and hydrophobicity to woody tissues. Lignin monomers are synthesized via the phenylpropanoid pathway, wherein CAFFEOYL SHIKIMATE ESTERASE (CSE) converts caffeoyl shikimate into caffeic acid. Here, we explored the role of the two CSE homologs in poplar (Populus tremula × P. alba). Reporter lines showed that the expression conferred by both CSE1 and CSE2 promoters is similar. CRISPR-Cas9-generated cse1 and cse2 single mutants had a wild-type lignin level. Nevertheless, CSE1 and CSE2 are not completely redundant, as both single mutants accumulated caffeoyl shikimate. In contrast, the cse1 cse2 double mutants had a 35% reduction in lignin and associated growth penalty. The reduced-lignin content translated into a fourfold increase in cellulose-to-glucose conversion upon limited saccharification. Phenolic profiling of the double mutants revealed large metabolic shifts, including an accumulation of p-coumaroyl, 5-hydroxyferuloyl, feruloyl and sinapoyl shikimate, in addition to caffeoyl shikimate. This indicates that the CSEs have a broad substrate specificity, which was confirmed by in vitro enzyme kinetics. Taken together, our results suggest an alternative path within the phenylpropanoid pathway at the level of the hydroxycinnamoyl-shikimates, and show that CSE is a promising target to improve plants for the biorefinery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisanne de Vries
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and BioinformaticsGhent UniversityGhentBelgium
- VIB Center for Plant Systems BiologyGhentBelgium
| | - Marlies Brouckaert
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and BioinformaticsGhent UniversityGhentBelgium
- VIB Center for Plant Systems BiologyGhentBelgium
| | - Alexandra Chanoca
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and BioinformaticsGhent UniversityGhentBelgium
- VIB Center for Plant Systems BiologyGhentBelgium
| | - Hoon Kim
- Department of Biochemistry, and U.S. Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research CenterWisconsin Energy InstituteUniversity of Wisconsin‐MadisonMadisonWIUSA
| | - Matthew R. Regner
- Department of Biochemistry, and U.S. Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research CenterWisconsin Energy InstituteUniversity of Wisconsin‐MadisonMadisonWIUSA
| | - Vitaliy I. Timokhin
- Department of Biochemistry, and U.S. Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research CenterWisconsin Energy InstituteUniversity of Wisconsin‐MadisonMadisonWIUSA
| | - Yi Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and BreedingNortheast Forestry UniversityHarbinChina
| | - Barbara De Meester
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and BioinformaticsGhent UniversityGhentBelgium
- VIB Center for Plant Systems BiologyGhentBelgium
| | | | - Geert Goeminne
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and BioinformaticsGhent UniversityGhentBelgium
- VIB Center for Plant Systems BiologyGhentBelgium
- VIB Metabolomics CoreGhentBelgium
| | - Vincent L. Chiang
- State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and BreedingNortheast Forestry UniversityHarbinChina
- Forest Biotechnology GroupDepartment of Forestry and Environmental ResourcesNorth Carolina State UniversityRaleighNCUSA
- Department of Forest BiomaterialsNorth Carolina State UniversityRaleighNCUSA
| | - Jack P. Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and BreedingNortheast Forestry UniversityHarbinChina
- Forest Biotechnology GroupDepartment of Forestry and Environmental ResourcesNorth Carolina State UniversityRaleighNCUSA
| | - John Ralph
- Department of Biochemistry, and U.S. Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research CenterWisconsin Energy InstituteUniversity of Wisconsin‐MadisonMadisonWIUSA
| | - Kris Morreel
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and BioinformaticsGhent UniversityGhentBelgium
- VIB Center for Plant Systems BiologyGhentBelgium
| | - Ruben Vanholme
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and BioinformaticsGhent UniversityGhentBelgium
- VIB Center for Plant Systems BiologyGhentBelgium
| | - Wout Boerjan
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and BioinformaticsGhent UniversityGhentBelgium
- VIB Center for Plant Systems BiologyGhentBelgium
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Desmet S, Brouckaert M, Boerjan W, Morreel K. Seeing the forest for the trees: Retrieving plant secondary biochemical pathways from metabolome networks. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2020; 19:72-85. [PMID: 33384856 PMCID: PMC7753198 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2020.11.050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2020] [Revised: 11/26/2020] [Accepted: 11/28/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the last decade, a giant leap forward has been made in resolving the main bottleneck in metabolomics, i.e., the structural characterization of the many unknowns. This has led to the next challenge in this research field: retrieving biochemical pathway information from the various types of networks that can be constructed from metabolome data. Searching putative biochemical pathways, referred to as biotransformation paths, is complicated because several flaws occur during the construction of metabolome networks. Multiple network analysis tools have been developed to deal with these flaws, while in silico retrosynthesis is appearing as an alternative approach. In this review, the different types of metabolome networks, their flaws, and the various tools to trace these biotransformation paths are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandrien Desmet
- Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent, Belgium
- VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Marlies Brouckaert
- Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent, Belgium
- VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Wout Boerjan
- Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent, Belgium
- VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Kris Morreel
- Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent, Belgium
- VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Ghent, Belgium
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