BBMB Research Seminars

May 1, 2008
Dr. Eran Pichersky
Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
University of Michigan

"How Plants Evolve the Ability to Make so Many Scent Compounds."

1414 Molecular Biology Buidling
4:40 p.m.

Abstract:

Plant volatiles serve various ecological roles from attraction of pollinators to defense again herbivores and pathogens. Synthesis of plant volatiles involves the removal of hydrophilic moieties and oxidation/hydroxylation, reduction, methylation and acylation of various plant metabolites. Some biosynthetic enzymes of plant volatiles produce multiple products from a single substrate or act on multiple substrates. Plant species often vary in the set of volatile compounds that they synthesize, indicating that the genes encoding the enzyme for volatile biosynthesis are constantly changing and genes (and enzymes) for new volatiles constantly arise. Genes for the biosynthesis of new volatiles can evolve by duplication of genes that specify the synthesis of either existing volatiles or non-volatile metabolites, followed by divergence. Changes in preferred substrate or resultant product of such enzymes may occur through minimal changes of critical residues. Convergent evolution is often responsible for the ability of distally related species to synthesize the same volatile. In this talk I will describe specific examples we have observed in the recently discovered family of phenylpropene synthases that illustrate many of these processes.