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Functional Analyses of Lupulin Gland-Specific Regulatory Factors from WD40, bHLH and Myb Families of Hop (Humulus lupulus L.) show Formation of Crucial Complexes Activating chs_H1 Genes
J. Matoušek, J. Patzak, T. Kocábek, Z. Füssy, J. Stehlík, L. Orctová and G.S. Duraisamy

Complex lupulin gland-specific cDNA library from Osvald?s clone 72 hop was constructed to dissect regulation of biosynthetic pathway(s) leading to the accumulation of hop bitter acids and prenylflavonoids with promising health-beneficial activities. From this cDNA library we isolated first hop-specific allelic isoforms of transcription factors (TF) bHLH (HlbHLH2, GeneBank AC:FR751553) and WD40 (HlWD40_1, AC:NM_122360) which are involved in combinatorial control of light-responsive and tissue-specific activation of phenylpropanoid pathway. HlbHLH2 and HlWD40_1 are quite lupulin gland-specific and, according to our transient expression experiments, they form specific complexes with another novel hop TF HlMyb2 (AC:FN646081) and previously isolated lupulin gland-specific HlMyb3 (AC:AM501509). The complex formation leads to strong activation of chalconsynthase gene (chs_H1) promoter. The interplay and regulation of expression of these crucial TF complexes could co-determine the rate of accumulation of valuable metabolites of lupulin.

Descriptors: Humulus lupulus L., N. benthamiana, lupulin metabolome, transcription factors, protein complexes, transient expression assay

BrewingScience – Monatsschrift für Brauwissenschaft, 64 (November/December 2011), pp. 151-155