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The Genetic Origins of Biosynthesis and Light-Responsive Control of the Chemical UV Screen of Land Plants

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Genetic Engineering of Plant Secondary Metabolism

Part of the book series: Recent Advances in Phytochemistry ((RAPT,volume 28))

Abstract

Most land plants possess the capacity to protect themselves from UV light, and do so by producing pigments that absorb efficiently in the UV-A and UV-B regions of the spectrum while allowing transmission of nearly all photosynthetically useful wavelengths.1,2 These UV-absorbing pigments are mainly phenylpropanoids and flavonoids. This chapter summarizes current understanding of the mechanism of UV protection in higher land plants, evaluates the information available from lower land plants and their green-algal relatives, and then considers the possible evolutionary origins of this use of chemical filters for selectively screening UV light from solar radiation. It is proposed that photocontrol over the biosynthesis of UV-absorbing phenylpropanoids and flavonoids may have evolved in concert with the evolution of the high biosynthetic activity necessary for UV protection. The toxicity of phenylpropanoids and flavonoids has been postulated to have been a barrier to the evolution of an effective chemical UV screen, and that some means for sequestering these compounds and/or for controlling their synthesis probably evolved prior to, or in concert with, the evolution of high rates of biosynthesis. The original photoreceptor and signal transduction system is speculated to have been based on photoisomerization of a phenylpropanoid ester and a pre-existing product feedback mechanism for controlling phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. Understanding the original mechanism for photocontrol of the chemical UV screen of land plants could be valuable for understanding the adaptability of extant land plants to rising levels of solar UV-B radiation and may suggest genetic strategies for engineering improved UV tolerance in crop plants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Horticulture, University of California, Davis, California, 95616-8587, USA

    Richard Jorgensen

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  1. Richard Jorgensen
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Brian E. Ellis

  2. Applied Biosystems, Foster City, California, USA

    Gary W. Kuroki

  3. Reed College, Portland, Oregon, USA

    Helen A. Stafford

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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Jorgensen, R. (1994). The Genetic Origins of Biosynthesis and Light-Responsive Control of the Chemical UV Screen of Land Plants. In: Ellis, B.E., Kuroki, G.W., Stafford, H.A. (eds) Genetic Engineering of Plant Secondary Metabolism. Recent Advances in Phytochemistry, vol 28. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2544-8_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2544-8_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6085-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-2544-8

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