Researchers at the John Innes Centre have discovered a gene cluster in wheat that produces triticein, an unexpected isoflavone, paving the way for advances in wheat’s nutritional enhancement and disease resistance. This finding opens new avenues for research into the health benefits and applications of triticein.
An unexpected genetic discovery in wheat has led to opportunities for the metabolic engineering of versatile compounds with the potential to improve its nutritional qualities and resilience to disease.
Researchers in the Osbourn group at the John Innes Centre have been investigating biosynthetic gene clusters in wheat – groups of genes that are co-localized on the genome and work together to produce specific molecules.
Discovery of Triticein
In a study that appears in Nature Communications<em>Nature Communications</em> is a peer-reviewed, open-access, multidisciplinary, scientific journal published by Nature Portfolio. It covers the natural sciences, including physics, biology, chemistry, medicine, and earth sciences. It began publishing in 2010 and has editorial offices in London, Berlin, New York City, and Shanghai. ” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>Nature Communications, they identified a gene cluster activated by pathogen infection, which was found to produce a compound they named triticein.
Experiments to determine the structure of triticein surprisingly identified this compound as an isoflavone rather than a flavone, as the team had expected.
Isoflavones are a class of phytoestrogen compounds well studied for their benefits to human health, which include the prevention of cardiovascular diseaseCardiovascular disease refers to a group of conditions that affect the heart and blood vessels, such as coronary artery disease, heart failure, arrhythmias, and stroke. It is caused by a variety of factors, including lifestyle choices (such as smoking and poor diet), genetics, and underlying medical conditions (such as high blood pressure and diabetes). Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death worldwide, but can often be prevented or managed through lifestyle changes, medications, and medical procedures such as bypass surgery and angioplasty.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>cardiovascular disease and some cancers. They are mostly found in the legume family of which soybeans are the main source in the human diet.
Researchers have identified a wheat gene cluster activated by pathogen infection, which was found to produce a compound they named triticein. Credit: John Innes Centre
Implications and Future Research
The discovery of an alternative route to isoflavonoid biosynthesis, this time in wheat, and the elucidation of the triticein biosynthetic pathway in this study provideS exciting opportunities for future research and paves the way for metabolic engineering efforts. Increasing triticein production in wheat, for example, may aid in developing cultivars with higher disease tolerance.
Another possibility is that wheat triticein-forming genes can be expressed in other plants or microbes, from which the molecule can be produced, and its antimicrobial properties further investigated.
And because triticein is an isoflavone there is a possibility that it may have health benefits like others in this class, although there is much further research to be done on this prospect.
Dr. Rajesh Chandra Misra, a post-doctoral scientist at the John Innes Centre and one of the lead authors explained: “We do not know anything specifically about potential health benefits of triticein, only about other isoflavones. Also, the concentrations of triticein (and other isoflavones) that we found in wheat grains were very low, so wheat cannot be currently considered as a source of dietary isoflavones.”
Joint lead author Dr Guy Polturak previously at the John Innes Centre and now at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem reflected: “This study is a nice example of how scientific research sometimes takes scientists down unintended paths, eventually leading to unexpected discoveries. The main aim of this research was to learn about wheat chemical defense mechanisms, but it led to interesting new findings on plant biochemistry, in this case, the discovery of a unique isoflavone synthase.”
Reference: “Discovery of isoflavone phytoalexins in wheat reveals an alternative route to isoflavonoid biosynthesis” by Guy Polturak, Rajesh Chandra Misra, Amr El-Demerdash, Charlotte Owen, Andrew Steed, Hannah P. McDonald, JiaoJiao Wang, Gerhard Saalbach, Carlo Martins, Laetitia Chartrain, Barrie Wilkinson, Paul Nicholson and Anne Osbourn, 32 October 2023, Nature Communications.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42464-3
Source: SciTechDaily
