Genome Research Laboratory, School of Biotechnology, University of Jammu, Jammu, India.
PLoS One. 2018 Apr 10;13(4):e0195348. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195348. eCollection 2018.
The dried stigmas of Crocus sativus constitute the saffron, which is considered to be the costliest spice of the world. Saffron is valuable for its constituents, which are mainly apocarotenoids. In order to enhance the production of apocarotenoids, it is imperative to understand the regulation of apocarotenoid biosynthetic pathway. In C. sativus, although the pathway has been elucidated, the information regarding the regulation of the pathwaygenes is scanty. During the present investigation, the characterization of promoters regulating the expression of two important genes i.e. CsPSY and CsUGT was performed. We successfully cloned the promoters of both the genes, which were functionally characterized in Crocus sativus and Nicotiana tabaccum. In silico analysis of the promoters demonstrated the presence of several important cis regulatory elements responding tolight, hormonesand interaction with transcription factors (TFs). Further analysis suggested the regulation of CsPSY promoter by Abscisic acid (ABA) and that of CsUGT by Gibberellic acid (GA). In addition, we also observed ABA and GA mediated modulation in the expression of significant TFs and CsPSY and CsUGT transcripts. Overall, the study addresses issues related to regulation of key genes of apocarotenoid pathway in C.sativus.
番红花的干燥柱头构成了藏红花，它被认为是世界上最昂贵的香料。藏红花因其主要成分类胡萝卜素而具有价值。为了提高类胡萝卜素的产量，了解类胡萝卜素生物合成途径的调控是至关重要的。在番红花中，虽然该途径已经阐明，但关于途径基因调控的信息却很少。在目前的研究中，对调节两个重要基因即 CsPSY 和 CsUGT 表达的启动子进行了表征。我们成功地克隆了这两个基因的启动子，并在番红花和烟草中对其进行了功能表征。启动子的计算机分析表明，存在几个响应光、激素和与转录因子（TFs）相互作用的重要顺式调控元件。进一步的分析表明，CsPSY 启动子受脱落酸（ABA）的调节，而 CsUGT 启动子受赤霉素（GA）的调节。此外，我们还观察到 ABA 和 GA 介导的对重要 TF 和 CsPSY 和 CsUGT 转录物表达的调节。总的来说，该研究解决了与番红花中类胡萝卜素途径关键基因调控相关的问题。
