Down-regulation of tomato PHYTOL KINASE strongly impairs tocopherol biosynthesis and affects prenyllipid metabolism in an organ-specific manner

JULIANA ALMEIDA; MARIANA DA SILVA AZEVEDO; LIVIA SPICHER; GAÉTAN GLAUSER; KATHARINA VOM DORP; LUZIA GUYER; ANDREA DEL VALLE CARRANZA; RAMÓN ASIS; AMANDA PEREIRA DE SOUZA; MARCOS BUCKERIDGE; DIEGO DEMARCO; CÉCILE BRES; CHRISTOPHE ROTHAN; LÁZARO EUSTÁQUIO PEREIRA PERES; STEFAN HÖRTENSTEINER; FÉLIX KESSLER; PETER DÖRMANN; FERNANDO CARRARI ; MAGDALENA ROSSI

JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY

OXFORD UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2015 vol. 66

0022-0957

Tocopherol, a compound with vitamin E (VTE) activity, is a conserved constituent of the plastidial antioxidant net- work in photosynthetic organisms. The synthesis of tocopherol involves the condensation of an aromatic head group with an isoprenoid prenyl side chain. The latter, phytyl diphosphate, can be derived from chlorophyll phytol tail recy- cling, which depends on phytol kinase (VTE5) activity. How plants co-ordinate isoprenoid precursor distribution for supplying biosynthesis of tocopherol and other prenyllipids in different organs is poorly understood. Here, Solanum lycopersicum plants impaired in the expression of two VTE5-like genes identified by phylogenetic analyses, named SlVTE5 and SlFOLK, were characterized. Our data show that while SlFOLK does not affect tocopherol content, the production of this metabolite is >80% dependent on SlVTE5 in tomato, in both leaves and fruits. VTE5 deficiency greatly impacted lipid metabolism, including prenylquinones, carotenoids, and fatty acid phytyl esters. However, the prenyllipid profile greatly differed between source and sink organs, revealing organ-specific metabolic adjustments in tomato. Additionally, VTE5-deficient plants displayed starch accumulation and lower CO2 assimilation in leaves associated with mild yield penalty. Taken together, our results provide valuable insights into the distinct regulation of isoprenoid metabolism in leaves and fruits and also expose the interaction between lipid and carbon metabolism, which results in carbohydrate export blockage in the VTE5-deficient plants, affecting tomato fruit quality.