TY - JOUR A1 - Wadke, Namita A1 - Kandasamy, Dineshkumar A1 - Vogel, Heiko A1 - Lah, Ljerka A1 - Wingfield, Brenda D. A1 - Paetz, Christian A1 - Wright, Louwrance P. A1 - Gershenzon, Jonathan A1 - Hammerbacher, Almuth T1 - The Bark-Beetle-Associated Fungus, Endoconidiophora polonica, Utilizes the Phenolic Defense Compounds of Its Host as a Carbon Source JF - Plant physiology : an international journal devoted to physiology, biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, biophysics and environmental biology of plants N2 - Norway spruce (Picea abies) is periodically attacked by the bark beetle Ips typographus and its fungal associate, Endoconidiophora polonica, whose infection is thought to be required for successful beetle attack. Norway spruce produces terpenoid resins and phenolics in response to fungal and bark beetle invasion. However, how the fungal associate copes with these chemical defenses is still unclear. In this study, we investigated changes in the phenolic content of Norway spruce bark upon E. polonica infection and the biochemical factors mediating these changes. Although genes encoding the rate-limiting enzymes in Norway spruce stilbene and flavonoid biosynthesis were actively transcribed during fungal infection, there was a significant time-dependent decline of the corresponding metabolites in fungal lesions. In vitro feeding experiments with pure phenolics revealed that E. polonica transforms both stilbenes and flavonoids to muconoid-type ring-cleavage products, which are likely the first steps in the degradation of spruce defenses to substrates that can enter the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Four genes were identified in E. polonica that encode catechol dioxygenases carrying out these reactions. These enzymes catalyze the cleavage of phenolic rings with a vicinal dihydroxyl group to muconoid products accepting a wide range of Norway spruce-produced phenolics as substrates. The expression of these genes and E. polonica utilization of the most abundant spruce phenolics as carbon sources both correlated positively with fungal virulence in several strains. Thus, the pathways for the degradation of phenolic compounds in E. polonica, initiated by catechol dioxygenase action, are important to the infection, growth, and survival of this bark beetle-vectored fungus and may play a major role in the ability of I. typographus to colonize spruce trees. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.15.01916 SN - 0032-0889 SN - 1532-2548 VL - 171 SP - 914 EP - 931 PB - American Society of Plant Physiologists CY - Rockville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Skirycz, Aleksandra A1 - Reichelt, Michael A1 - Burow, Meike A1 - Birkemeyer, Claudia Sabine A1 - Rolcik, Jacub A1 - Kopka, Joachim A1 - Zanor, Maria Ines A1 - Gershenzon, Jonathan A1 - Strnad, Miroslav A1 - Szopa, Jan A1 - Müller-Röber, Bernd A1 - Witt, Isabell T1 - DOF transcription factor AtDof1.1 (OBP2) is part of a regulatory network controlling glucosinolate biosynthesis in Arabidopsis N2 - Glucosinolates are a group of secondary metabolites that function as defense substances against herbivores and micro-organisms in the plant order Capparales. Indole glucosinolates (IGS), derivatives of tryptophan, may also influence plant growth and development. In Arabidopsis thaliana, indole-3-acetaldoxime (IAOx) produced from tryptophan by the activity of two cytochrome P450 enzymes, CYP79B2 and CYP79B3, serves as a precursor for IGS biosynthesis but is also an intermediate in the biosynthetic pathway of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Another cytochrome P450 enzyme, CYP83B1, funnels IAOx into IGS. Although there is increasing information about the genes involved in this biochemical pathway, their regulation is not fully understood. OBP2 has recently been identified as a member of the DNA-binding-with-one- finger (DOF) transcription factors, but its function has not been studied in detail so far. Here we report that OBP2 is expressed in the vasculature of all Arabidopsis organs, including leaves, roots, flower stalks and petals. OBP2 expression is induced in response to a generalist herbivore, Spodoptera littoralis, and by treatment with the plant signalling molecule methyl jasmonate, both of which also trigger IGS accumulation. Constitutive and inducible over- expression of OBP2 activates expression of CYP83B1. In addition, auxin concentration is increased in leaves and seedlings of OBP2 over-expression lines relative to wild-type, and plant size is diminished due to a reduction in cell size. RNA interference-mediated OBP2 blockade leads to reduced expression of CYP83B1. Collectively, these data provide evidence that OBP2 is part of a regulatory network that regulates glucosinolate biosynthesis in Arabidopsis Y1 - 2006 UR - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-313X.2006.02767.x/full ER -