Instutute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama, Sugitani, Toyama, Toyama 930-0194, Japan.
RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 230-0045, Japan.
J Exp Bot. 2024 Mar 14;75(6):1741-1753. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erad341.
Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) is a widely cultivated crop of the genus Nicotiana. Due to the highly addictive nature of tobacco products, tobacco smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease. There is therefore a critical need to develop tobacco varieties with reduced or non-addictive nicotine levels. Nicotine and related pyridine alkaloids biosynthesized in the roots of tobacco plants are transported to the leaves, where they are stored in vacuoles as a defense against predators. Jasmonate, a defense-related plant hormone, plays a crucial signaling role in activating transcriptional regulators that coordinate the expression of downstream metabolic and transport genes involved in nicotine production. In recent years, substantial progress has been made in molecular and genomics research, revealing many metabolic and regulatory genes involved in nicotine biosynthesis. These advances have enabled us to develop tobacco plants with low or ultra-low nicotine levels through various methodologies, such as mutational breeding, genetic engineering, and genome editing. We review the recent progress on genetic manipulation of nicotine production in tobacco, which serves as an excellent example of plant metabolic engineering with profound social implications.
烟草（Nicotiana tabacum L.）是茄科烟草属的一种广泛种植的作物。由于烟草制品具有高度成瘾性，吸烟仍然是可预防的死亡和疾病的主要原因。因此，迫切需要开发尼古丁含量降低或无成瘾性的烟草品种。在烟草植物的根部合成的尼古丁和相关吡啶生物碱被运输到叶片中，并作为防御捕食者的机制储存在液泡中。茉莉酸，一种与防御相关的植物激素，在激活转录调节因子方面发挥着至关重要的信号作用，这些转录调节因子协调参与尼古丁产生的下游代谢和运输基因的表达。近年来，在分子和基因组学研究方面取得了重大进展，揭示了许多参与尼古丁生物合成的代谢和调节基因。这些进展使我们能够通过各种方法，如诱变育种、基因工程和基因组编辑，开发尼古丁含量低或超低的烟草植物。我们回顾了烟草中尼古丁生产的遗传操作的最新进展，这为具有深远社会意义的植物代谢工程提供了一个极好的范例。
