Articles
Phenolic compounds in Vaccinium spp.: diversity, biosynthesis, and molecular regulation
Article number
1357_1
Pages
1 – 8
Language
English
Abstract
Phenolic compounds constitute one of the most important groups of the bioactive molecules in food plants.
These compounds have received attention for their beneficial properties for human health and they also are involved in diverse important roles in plants, including signaling and defense against biotic and abiotic stress factors. Vaccinium berries are one of the richest sources of phenolic compounds of which flavonoid classes of anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, flavonols in addition to hydroxycinnamic acids are the main phenolics in these species.
Besides in berries, phenolic compounds are also present in other parts of the plant.
Biosynthesis of flavonoids via the phenylpropanoid pathway is well understood and the key enzymes leading to different intermediates or different flavonoid classes have been characterized in many species including wild and cultivated Vaccinium species.
At the molecular level, the biosynthesis is regulated via co-ordinated transcriptional control of the enzymes in the pathway by the interaction with transcription factors of the MYB-bHLH-WD40 (MBW) complex.
Upstream regulators of the pathway have also been identified.
The biosynthesis is controlled both at the level as well as by the surrounding environmental factors.
Plant hormones are the key players in the development and the ripening process of the fruits.
Especially abscisic acid (ABA) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) have been shown to have a key role in the flavonoid metabolism of Vaccinium species.
Accumulation of transcriptome, genome and metabolome data are currently increasing our understanding on the complicated regulation networks controlling the metabolism of the phenolic compounds in the Vaccinium species.
This offers new tools for selection of the species and cultivars with preferred characteristics, for instance berries with higher health benefit potential or plants with better stress resistance.
These compounds have received attention for their beneficial properties for human health and they also are involved in diverse important roles in plants, including signaling and defense against biotic and abiotic stress factors. Vaccinium berries are one of the richest sources of phenolic compounds of which flavonoid classes of anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, flavonols in addition to hydroxycinnamic acids are the main phenolics in these species.
Besides in berries, phenolic compounds are also present in other parts of the plant.
Biosynthesis of flavonoids via the phenylpropanoid pathway is well understood and the key enzymes leading to different intermediates or different flavonoid classes have been characterized in many species including wild and cultivated Vaccinium species.
At the molecular level, the biosynthesis is regulated via co-ordinated transcriptional control of the enzymes in the pathway by the interaction with transcription factors of the MYB-bHLH-WD40 (MBW) complex.
Upstream regulators of the pathway have also been identified.
The biosynthesis is controlled both at the level as well as by the surrounding environmental factors.
Plant hormones are the key players in the development and the ripening process of the fruits.
Especially abscisic acid (ABA) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) have been shown to have a key role in the flavonoid metabolism of Vaccinium species.
Accumulation of transcriptome, genome and metabolome data are currently increasing our understanding on the complicated regulation networks controlling the metabolism of the phenolic compounds in the Vaccinium species.
This offers new tools for selection of the species and cultivars with preferred characteristics, for instance berries with higher health benefit potential or plants with better stress resistance.
Publication
Authors
L. Jaakola
Keywords
anthocyanins, flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, phenylpropanoids, hydroxycinnamic acids
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