| Title: | Regulation of methylbenzoate emission after pollination in snapdragon and petunia flowers |
| Author(s): | Negre F; Kish CM; Boatright J; Underwood B; Shibuya K; Wagner C; Clark DG; Dudareva N; |
| Address: | "Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1040-4651 (Print) 1532-298X (Electronic) 1040-4651 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "The molecular mechanisms responsible for postpollination changes in floral scent emission were investigated in snapdragon cv Maryland True Pink and petunia cv Mitchell flowers using a volatile ester, methylbenzoate, one of the major scent compounds emitted by these flowers, as an example. In both species, a 70 to 75% pollination-induced decrease in methylbenzoate emission begins only after pollen tubes reach the ovary, a process that takes between 35 and 40 h in snapdragon and approximately 32 h in petunia. This postpollination decrease in emission is not triggered by pollen deposition on the stigma. Petunia and snapdragon both synthesize methylbenzoate from benzoic acid and S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM); however, they use different mechanisms to downregulate its production after pollination. In petunia, expression of the gene responsible for methylbenzoate synthesis is suppressed by ethylene. In snapdragon, the decrease in methylbenzoate emission is the result of a decrease in both S-adenosyl-l-methionine:benzoic acid carboxyl methyltransferase (BAMT) activity and the ratio of SAM to S-adenosyl-l-homocysteine ('methylation index') after pollination, although the BAMT gene also is sensitive to ethylene" |
| Keywords: | "Antirrhinum/genetics/*physiology Benzoates/*metabolism Benzoic Acid/metabolism DNA, Complementary/chemistry/genetics Ethylenes/pharmacology Flowers/genetics/*physiology Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental/drug effects Gene Expression Regulation, Enz;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineNegre, Florence Kish, Christine M Boatright, Jennifer Underwood, Beverly Shibuya, Kenichi Wagner, Conrad Clark, David G Dudareva, Natalia eng Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. England 2003/11/25 Plant Cell. 2003 Dec; 15(12):2992-3006. doi: 10.1105/tpc.016766. Epub 2003 Nov 20" |
