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Plant hormones

Metabolic end run to jasmonate

Nature Chemical Biology volume 14, pages 109–110 (2018)Cite this article

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The lipid-derived hormone jasmonate promotes durable resistance of plants to a myriad of herbivores and pathogens. New evidence reveals an alternative pathway for the terminal steps of jasmonate biosynthesis and further advances our understanding of bioactive oxylipins in the plant kingdom.

Oxylipins comprise a diverse group of compounds produced by oxidative metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids. In many multicellular organisms, a subset of oxylipins is perceived by specific receptors to control cell differentiation, immune responses, and other critical processes. Interest in plant oxylipins has focused mainly on the jasmonate family of compounds, which includes jasmonic acid (JA) and related precursors and derivatives (collectively called JAs). The essential role of JAs in promoting broad-spectrum resistance to herbivores and pathogens establishes these compounds as a cornerstone of plant immune signaling networks1. Nevertheless, the identification of receptor-active JAs has been a topic of active discussion since their discovery as potent elicitors of defense responses2. One aspect of this debate concerns the hypothesis that 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (OPDA), a C18 cyclopentenone precursor of JA, activates defense responses without first being converted JA3. Chini et al.4 now help to resolve this issue by elucidating a previously unrecognized metabolic route for conversion of OPDA to JA.

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Figure 1: Alternative metabolic routes for conversion of OPDA to jasmonate.

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  1. Gregg A. Howe is at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, DOE Plant Research Laboratory, and Plant Resilience Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA

    Gregg A Howe

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  1. Gregg A Howe
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Correspondence to Gregg A Howe.

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Howe, G. Metabolic end run to jasmonate. Nat Chem Biol 14, 109–110 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.2553

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