skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Rerouting of the lignin biosynthetic pathway by inhibition of cytosolic shikimate recycling in transgenic hybrid aspen

Journal Article · · The Plant Journal
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.15674· OSTI ID:1846175
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]; ORCiD logo [4];  [5];  [6];  [6];  [1];  [1];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [5];  [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Tokyo Univ. of Agriculture and Technology (Japan)
  2. Nagaoka Univ. of Technology (Japan)
  3. National Inst. of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan)
  4. Forest Research and Management Organization, Ibaraki (Japan)
  5. Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), Madison, WI (United States)
  6. Ghent Univ. (Belgium); VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Ghent (Belgium)

SUMMARY Lignin is a phenolic polymer deposited in the plant cell wall, and is mainly polymerized from three canonical monomers (monolignols), i.e. p ‐coumaryl, coniferyl and sinapyl alcohols. After polymerization, these alcohols form different lignin substructures. In dicotyledons, monolignols are biosynthesized from phenylalanine, an aromatic amino acid. Shikimate acts at two positions in the route to the lignin building blocks. It is part of the shikimate pathway that provides the precursor for the biosynthesis of phenylalanine, and is involved in the transesterification of p ‐coumaroyl‐CoA to p ‐coumaroyl shikimate, one of the key steps in the biosynthesis of coniferyl and sinapyl alcohols. The shikimate residue in p ‐coumaroyl shikimate is released in later steps, and the resulting shikimate becomes available again for the biosynthesis of new p ‐coumaroyl shikimate molecules. In this study, we inhibited cytosolic shikimate recycling in transgenic hybrid aspen by accelerated phosphorylation of shikimate in the cytosol through expression of a bacterial shikimate kinase (SK). This expression elicited an increase in p ‐hydroxyphenyl units of lignin and, by contrast, a decrease in guaiacyl and syringyl units. Transgenic plants with high SK activity produced a lignin content comparable to that in wild‐type plants, and had an increased processability via enzymatic saccharification. Although expression of many genes was altered in the transgenic plants, elevated SK activity did not exert a significant effect on the expression of the majority of genes responsible for lignin biosynthesis. The present results indicate that cytosolic shikimate recycling is crucial to the monomeric composition of lignin rather than for lignin content.

Research Organization:
Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), Madison, WI (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Japan Science and Technology Agency
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0018409; JPMJAL1107
OSTI ID:
1846175
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1854981
Journal Information:
The Plant Journal, Vol. 110, Issue 2; ISSN 0960-7412
Publisher:
Society for Experimental BiologyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (85)

Expression of a bacterial 3-dehydroshikimate dehydratase reduces lignin content and improves biomass saccharification efficiency journal January 2015
Lignin Biosynthesis journal June 2003
cis-Cinnamic Acid Is a Novel, Natural Auxin Efflux Inhibitor That Promotes Lateral Root Formation journal November 2016
ToF-SIMS imaging reveals that p -hydroxybenzoate groups specifically decorate the lignin of fibres in the xylem of poplar and willow journal September 2020
Modulation of auxin and cytokinin responses by early steps of the phenylpropanoid pathway journal November 2018
Characterization of the Isophthalate Degradation Genes of Comamonas sp. Strain E6 journal January 2010
Characterization and analysis of the molecular weight of lignin for biorefining studies journal June 2014
Reductive Cleavage Method for Quantitation of Monolignols and Low-Abundance Monolignol Conjugates journal May 2018
A facile spectroscopic method for measuring lignin content in lignocellulosic biomass journal January 2021
Changes in secondary metabolism and deposition of an unusual lignin in the ref8 mutant of Arabidopsis journal April 2002
Lignin biosynthesis and its integration into metabolism journal April 2019
Subcellular compartment of shikimic acid and phenylalanine in buckwheat cell suspension cultures grown in the presence of shikimate pathway inhibitors journal March 1983
The Shikimate Pathway and Aromatic Amino Acid Biosynthesis in Plants journal June 2012
Exploring lignification in conifers by silencing hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA:shikimate hydroxycinnamoyltransferase in Pinus radiata journal July 2007
Immunolocalization of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and cinnamate-4-hydroxylase in differentiating xylem of poplar journal September 2004
Exploiting the Substrate Promiscuity of Hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA:Shikimate Hydroxycinnamoyl Transferase to Reduce Lignin journal February 2016
Caffeoyl Shikimate Esterase (CSE) Is an Enzyme in the Lignin Biosynthetic Pathway in Arabidopsis journal August 2013
Isolation and Analysis of Cinnamic Acid 4-Hydroxylase Homologous Genes from a Hybrid Aspen, Populus kitakamiensis journal January 1996
Trimmomatic: a flexible trimmer for Illumina sequence data journal April 2014
Salicylic acid mediates the reduced growth of lignin down-regulated plants journal November 2011
Engineering of plants with improved properties as biofuels feedstocks by vessel-specific complementation of xylan biosynthesis mutants journal January 2012
CRISPR‐Cas9 editing of CAFFEOYL SHIKIMATE ESTERASE 1 and 2 shows their importance and partial redundancy in lignification in Populus tremula × P. alba journal August 2021
Purification, Cloning, and Properties of an Acyltransferase Controlling Shikimate and Quinate Ester Intermediates in Phenylpropanoid Metabolism journal October 2002
The entry reaction of the plant shikimate pathway is subjected to highly complex metabolite-mediated regulation journal January 2021
Novel vector systems to accelerate functional analysis of transcription factors using chimeric repressor gene-silencing technology (CRES-T) journal January 2011
Lignins: Biosynthesis and Biological Functions in Plants journal January 2018
Increase in 4-Coumaryl Alcohol Units during Lignification in Alfalfa ( Medicago sativa ) Alters the Extractability and Molecular Weight of Lignin journal October 2010
Significance of Lignin S/G Ratio in Biomass Recalcitrance of Populus trichocarpa Variants for Bioethanol Production journal December 2017
Biosynthesis of p-Hydroxybenzoate from p-Coumarate and p-Coumaroyl-Coenzyme A in Cell-Free Extracts of Lithospermum erythrorhizon Cell Cultures journal September 1994
Improving total saccharification yield of Arabidopsis plants by vessel-specific complementation of caffeoyl shikimate esterase (cse) mutants journal July 2016
Synthesis of hydroxycinnamoyl shikimates and their role in monolignol biosynthesis journal December 2021
Engineering the Oryza sativa cell wall with rice NAC transcription factors regulating secondary wall formation journal January 2013
Silencing CAFFEOYL SHIKIMATE ESTERASE Affects Lignification and Improves Saccharification in Poplar journal September 2017
Identification of enzymatic genes with the potential to reduce biomass recalcitrance through lignin manipulation in Arabidopsis journal May 2020
Targeting hydroxycinnamoyl CoA: shikimate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase for lignin modification in Brachypodium distachyon journal February 2021
Syntheses of Lignin-Derived Thioacidolysis Monomers and Their Uses as Quantitation Standards journal January 2012
Quantification of Lignin and Its Structural Features in Plant Biomass Using 13 C Lignin as Internal Standard for Pyrolysis-GC-SIM-MS journal October 2017
CCR1, an enzyme required for lignin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis, mediates cell proliferation exit for leaf development journal July 2015
Silencing of Hydroxycinnamoyl-Coenzyme A Shikimate/Quinate Hydroxycinnamoyltransferase Affects Phenylpropanoid Biosynthesis journal May 2004
Transcriptional profiling reveals signatures of latent developmental potential in Arabidopsis stomatal lineage ground cells journal April 2021
Down-regulation of p-coumaroyl quinate/shikimate 3′-hydroxylase (C3′H) and cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H) genes in the lignin biosynthetic pathway of Eucalyptus urophylla × E. grandis leads to improved sugar release journal August 2015
Preliminary study of Cell Wall Structure and its Mechanical Properties of C3H and HCT RNAi Transgenic Poplar Sapling journal July 2018
Growth–defense trade‐offs and yield loss in plants with engineered cell walls journal May 2021
MetaboAnalyst 4.0: towards more transparent and integrative metabolomics analysis journal May 2018
Monolignol Benzoates Incorporate into the Lignin of Transgenic Populus trichocarpa Depleted in C3H and C4H journal February 2020
g:Profiler: a web server for functional enrichment analysis and conversions of gene lists (2019 update) journal May 2019
RNAi-mediated suppression of p-coumaroyl-CoA 3'-hydroxylase in hybrid poplar impacts lignin deposition and soluble secondary metabolism journal March 2008
The Arabidopsis REF8 gene encodes the 3-hydroxylase of phenylpropanoid metabolism journal April 2002
Whole plant cell wall characterization using solution-state 2D NMR journal August 2012
HTSeq--a Python framework to work with high-throughput sequencing data journal September 2014
Vessel-Specific Reintroduction of CINNAMOYL-COA REDUCTASE1 (CCR1) in Dwarfed ccr1 Mutants Restores Vessel and Xylary Fiber Integrity and Increases Biomass journal November 2017
A screening method to identify efficient sgRNAs in Arabidopsis, used in conjunction with cell-specific lignin reduction journal May 2019
Breeding with rare defective alleles (BRDA): a natural Populus nigra HCT mutant with modified lignin as a case study journal February 2013
Chemically Induced Conditional Rescue of the Reduced Epidermal Fluorescence8 Mutant of Arabidopsis Reveals Rapid Restoration of Growth and Selective Turnover of Secondary Metabolite Pools journal December 2013
Structural characterization of lignins from hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HCT) down-regulated transgenic poplars journal October 2014
A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding journal May 1976
Erratum to “Down-regulation of hydroxycinnamoyl CoA: Shikimate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase in transgenic alfalfa affects lignification, development and forage quality” [Phytochemistry 68 (2007) 1521–1529] journal July 2007
Wood reinforcement of poplar by rice NAC transcription factor journal January 2016
Chimeric repressor analysis identifies MYB87 as a possible regulator of morphogenesis via cell wall organization and remodeling in Arabidopsis journal February 2014
Dynamic Conformational States Dictate Selectivity toward the Native Substrate in a Substrate-Permissive Acyltransferase journal November 2016
Protein–Protein and Protein–Membrane Associations in the Lignin Pathway journal November 2012
Effects of Coumarate 3-Hydroxylase Down-regulation on Lignin Structure journal January 2006
Flavonoid Accumulation in Arabidopsis Repressed in Lignin Synthesis Affects Auxin Transport and Plant Growth journal January 2007
Solution-state 2D NMR of ball-milled plant cell wall gels in DMSO-d6/pyridine-d5 journal January 2010
Lignin Engineering in Forest Trees journal July 2019
Graph-based genome alignment and genotyping with HISAT2 and HISAT-genotype journal August 2019
Structural Basis for Shikimate-Binding Specificity of Helicobacter pylori Shikimate Kinase journal December 2005
The Effects on Lignin Structure of Overexpression of Ferulate 5-Hydroxylase in Hybrid Poplar 1 journal April 2009
Using the Acetyl Bromide Assay To Determine Lignin Concentrations in Herbaceous Plants:  Some Cautionary Notes journal February 1999
4-Coumarate 3-hydroxylase in the lignin biosynthesis pathway is a cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase journal April 2019
Monolignol acyltransferase for lignin p-hydroxybenzoylation in Populus journal August 2021
Immunocytochemical Localization of Enzymes Involved in Lignification of the Cell Wall journal December 2001
p HBMT1, a BAHD-family monolignol acyltransferase, mediates lignin acylation in poplar journal November 2021
Profiling of Oligolignols Reveals Monolignol Coupling Conditions in Lignifying Poplar Xylem journal October 2004
Disruption of Mediator rescues the stunted growth of a lignin-deficient Arabidopsis mutant journal March 2014
An essential role of caffeoyl shikimate esterase in monolignol biosynthesis in Medicago truncatula journal June 2016
Naturally p-Hydroxybenzoylated Lignins in Palms journal February 2015
Effects on Lignin Structure of Coumarate 3-Hydroxylase Downregulation in Poplar journal May 2012
Impact of engineered lignin composition on biomass recalcitrance and ionic liquid pretreatment efficiency journal January 2016
Near-optimal probabilistic RNA-seq quantification journal April 2016
The Sequence Alignment/Map format and SAMtools journal June 2009
The cell biology of lignification in higher plants journal April 2015
Moderated estimation of fold change and dispersion for RNA-seq data with DESeq2 journal December 2014
Discovery of Helicobacter pylori shikimate kinase inhibitors: Bioassay and molecular modeling journal January 2007
An In-Depth Understanding of Biomass Recalcitrance Using Natural Poplar Variants as the Feedstock journal December 2016