Genomics and biochemical analyses reveal a metabolon key to β-L-ODAP biosynthesis in Lathyrus sativus

Edwards, Anne; Njaci, Isaac; Sarkar, Abhimanyu; Jiang, Zhouqian; Kaithakottil, Gemy George; Moore, Christopher; Cheema, Jitender; Stevenson, Clare E. M.; Rejzek, Martin; Novák, Petr; Vigouroux, Marielle; Vickers, Martin; Wouters, Roland H. M.; Paajanen, Pirita; Steuernagel, Burkhard; Moore, Jonathan D.; Higgins, Janet; Swarbreck, David; Martens, Stefan; Kim, Colin Y.; Weng, Jing-Ke; Mundree, Sagadevan; Kilian, Benjamin; Kumar, Shiv; Loose, Matt; Yant, Levi; Macas, Jiří; Wang, Trevor L.; Martin, Cathie; Emmrich, Peter M. F.

Abstract

Grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) is a rich source of protein cultivated as an insurance crop in Ethiopia, Eritrea, India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Its resilience to both drought and flooding makes it a promising crop for ensuring food security in a changing climate. The lack of genetic resources and the crop’s association with the disease neurolathyrism have limited the cultivation of grass pea. Here, we present an annotated, long read-based assembly of the 6.5 Gbp L. sativus genome. Using this genome sequence, we have elucidated the biosynthetic pathway leading to the formation of the neurotoxin, β-L-oxalyl-2,3-diaminopropionic acid (β-L-ODAP). The final reaction of the pathway depends on an interaction between L. sativus acyl-activating enzyme 3 (LsAAE3) and a BAHD-acyltransferase (LsBOS) that form a metabolon activated by CoA to produce β-L-ODAP. This provides valuable insight into the best approaches for developing varieties which produce substantially less toxin.

Citation

Edwards, A., Njaci, I., Sarkar, A., Jiang, Z., Kaithakottil, G. G., Moore, C., Cheema, J., Stevenson, C. E. M., Rejzek, M., Novák, P., Vigouroux, M., Vickers, M., Wouters, R. H. M., Paajanen, P., Steuernagel, B., Moore, J. D., Higgins, J., Swarbreck, D., Martens, S., Kim, C. Y., …Emmrich, P. M. F. (2023). Genomics and biochemical analyses reveal a metabolon key to β-L-ODAP biosynthesis in Lathyrus sativus. Nature Communications, 14, Article 876. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36503-2

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 3, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Feb 16, 2023
• Publication Date: Feb 16, 2023
• Deposit Date: Nov 21, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 21, 2024
• Journal: Nature Communications
• Electronic ISSN: 2041-1723
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 14
• Article Number: 876
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36503-2
• Keywords: General Physics and Astronomy; General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; General Chemistry; Multidisciplinary
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/17386374
• Publisher URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36503-2