Genetic variation in rice momilactone biosynthesis
Organismic Interactions, Chemical Ecology and Microbiomes of Plant Systems
Final Report Abstract
Plants usually grow in dense communities, together with plants from the same or a different species. Because resources are scarce, plants must compete with their neighbours for nutrients, space, and water. In a strategy called ‘allelopathy’, plants produce and release chemical compounds that are harmful for their neighbours. This type of biochemical interference between plants also occurs between crop plants and weeds that infest agricultural areas. It is therefore important to understand the molecular mechanisms employed during allelopathy, to develop strategies by which crops can protect themselves against invaders without harming themselves. Rice is the most important crop worldwide based on calorie supply. Every year, weed infestation of rice fields, particularly by the grassy weed Echinochloa crus-galli (barnyard grass) causes massive losses in potential production. At the same time, rice is an allelopathic crop, meaning that it has the capacity to produce and release weed-suppressive chemical compounds. The main chemicals are momilactones, of which there are two forms, A and B. While momilactone A is produced when the rice plant is under attack by fungal pathogens, momilactone B is produced as a repellent against neighbouring weeds. However, it remains unclear how the rice plants perceive and recognize their neighbours. Earlier studies have shown that different rice varieties and cultivars have different allelopathic strength, meaning that some are better in suppressing weeds than others. However, it is unclear whether this variation is related to different levels of momilactone production. Momilactone-based allelopathy can potentially be used to breed new cultivars that can naturally defend themselves against invading weeds, thus reducing the need for synthetic and potentially harmful herbicides. To apply such strategies, knowledge on (i) the natural genetic variation that determines the allelopathic strength of different rice strains, and on (ii) the mode of action (MoA) of momilactones are indispensable. Here, we took a two-tiered approach: in the first line of research, we investigated the molecular effects of momilactone B on the non-producing plant Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress). In the second, we studied variation in the genetic basis of momilactone production among cultivated rice lines and in wild rice species.
Publications
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Transcriptional response of a target plant to benzoxazinoid and diterpene allelochemicals highlights commonalities in detoxification. BMC Plant Biology, 22(1).
Knoch, Eva; Kovács, Judit; Deiber, Sebastian; Tomita, Keisuke; Shanmuganathan, Reshi; Serra Serra, Núria; Okada, Kazunori; Becker, Claude & Schandry, Niklas
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Evolution and diversification of the momilactone biosynthetic gene cluster in the genus Oryza. New Phytologist, 245(6), 2681-2697.
Priego‐Cubero, Santiago; Liu, Youming; Toyomasu, Tomonobu; Gigl, Michael; Hasegawa, Yuto; Nojiri, Hideaki; Dawid, Corinna; Okada, Kazunori & Becker, Claude
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Subfunctionalization and epigenetic regulation of a biosynthetic gene cluster in Solanaceae. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(8).
Priego-Cubero, Santiago; Knoch, Eva; Wang, Zhidan; Alseekh, Saleh; Braun, Karl-Heinz; Chapman, Philipp; Fernie, Alisdair R.; Liu, Chang & Becker, Claude
