Cloning and Functional Characterization of a Chalcone Isomerase from Trigonella foenum-graecum L.

Abstract

Flavonoids belong to a group of plant natural products with variable phenolic structures and play important roles in protection against biotic and abiotic stress. Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) seeds and stems contain flavonol glycosides and isoflavone derivatives. Up to now, the molecular features of fenugreek flavonoid biosynthesis have not been characterized. Here we present cloning of a cDNA encoding a chalcone isomerase (namely TFGCHI‐1) from the leaves of T. foenum-graecum which convert chalcones to flavanones in vitro. Transformation of Arabidopsis loss-of-function tt5 (chi) mutant with a TFGCHI‐1 cDNA complemented tt5 and produced higher levels of flavonol glycosides than wild-type Col-0.

Key words

Trigonella foenum‐graecum L. - Leguminosae - chalcone isomerase - Arabidopsis - tt5

References

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1 These authors contributed equally to this work and are considered co-first authors.