Plant metabolic gene clusters in the multi-omics era

Chuansong Zhan; Shuangqian Shen; Chenkun Yang; Zhenhua Liu; Alisdair R Fernie; Ian A Graham; Jie Luo

doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2022.03.002

Plant metabolic gene clusters in the multi-omics era

Trends Plant Sci. 2022 Oct;27(10):981-1001. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2022.03.002. Epub 2022 Mar 30.

Authors

Chuansong Zhan¹, Shuangqian Shen², Chenkun Yang³, Zhenhua Liu⁴, Alisdair R Fernie⁵, Ian A Graham⁶, Jie Luo⁷

Affiliations

¹ College of Tropical Crops, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China; Sanya Nanfan Research Institute of Hainan University, Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, Sanya 572025, China.
² College of Tropical Crops, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China; National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
³ National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
⁴ Joint Center for Single Cell Biology, School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
⁵ Max-Planck-Institut fur Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie, Am Muhlenberg 1, 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany; Center of Plant Systems Biology and Biotechnology, 4000 Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
⁶ Center for Novel Agricultural Products, Department of Biology, University of York, York, UK.
⁷ College of Tropical Crops, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China; Sanya Nanfan Research Institute of Hainan University, Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, Sanya 572025, China. Electronic address: jie.luo@hainanu.edu.cn.

PMID: 35365433
DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2022.03.002

Abstract

Secondary metabolism in plants gives rise to a vast array of small-molecule natural products. The discovery of operon-like gene clusters in plants has provided a new perspective on the evolution of specialized metabolism and the opportunity to rapidly advance the metabolic engineering of natural product production. Here, we review historical aspects of the study of plant metabolic gene clusters as well as general strategies for identifying plant metabolic gene clusters in the multi-omics era. We also emphasize the exploration of their natural variation and evolution, as well as new strategies for the prospecting of plant metabolic gene clusters and a deeper understanding of how their structure influences their function.

Keywords: GWAS; metabolic gene cluster; natural variation.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Biological Products* / metabolism
Metabolic Engineering
Multigene Family
Plants* / metabolism

Substances

Biological Products