Abstract:
The
rol genes on pRiA4 plasmid of
Agrobacterium rhizogenes are potent genes that promote secondary metabolism. Molecular breeding of
Atropa belladonna can be conducted by introducing
rol genes to increase tropane alkaloids (TAs) content in
A. belladonna. In this study, the
rolB gene was overexpressed in
A. belladonna plants to study the effect of
rolB gene on the biosynthesis of TAs. The phenotype, TAs content and expression levels of key enzyme genes in the pathway of TAs biosynthesis of transgenic
A. belladonna were analyzed. The results showed that transgenic
A. belladonna had developed root system, enlarged leaves, increased leaf fresh weight, deepened leaf color, enlarged flowers, changed flower shape, reduced pistil height and decreased pollen vitality. The content of TAs in the stems of transgenic
A. belladonna was significantly higher than that of the control, and the contents of scopolamine, anisodamine, hyoscyamine can reach 2.11-2.91, 1.23-2.37 and 4.88-5.20 times of the control, respectively. Compared with the control group, the expressions of key enzymes putrescine
N-methyltransferase (
PMT), type Ⅲ polyketide synthase (
PYKS), tropinone reductase I (
TRI), aromatic amino acid aminotransferase 4 (
ArAT4), UDP-glycosyltransferase 1 (
UGT1) and hyoscyamine 6-
β-hydroxylase (
H6H) in the TAs biosynthesis pathway were up-regulated, and the expression of tropinone reductase Ⅱ (
TRⅡ) as a metabolic shunting gene was down-regulated. The results indicated that
rolB gene enhanced TAs synthesis ability in roots and accumulation in stems of
A. belladonna by enhancing metabolic flow of TAs synthesis pathway and weakening the metabolic shunt of competing pathway. This study laid a foundation for molecular breeding of
A. belladonna with high-yield TAs content using
rolB gene.