BIBLIOS

Document type
Journal articles

Document subtype
Full paper

Title
Terpene synthase gene expression evaluation through RT-qPCR in Thymus caespititius

Participants in the publication
Helena Trindade (Author)
FACULDADE DE CIÊNCIAS DA UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA
Dep. Biologia Vegetal
CESAM
Carolina Ferro Rodrigues (Author)
FACULDADE DE CIÊNCIAS DA UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA
Dep. Biologia Vegetal
Rogério Tenreiro (Author)
FACULDADE DE CIÊNCIAS DA UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA
Dep. Biologia Vegetal
BioISI
Ana Tenreiro (Author)
FACULDADE DE CIÊNCIAS DA UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA
Dep. Biologia Vegetal
BioISI
Luis Gaspar Pedro (Author)
FACULDADE DE CIÊNCIAS DA UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA
Dep. Biologia Vegetal
CESAM

Summary
Thymus caespititius Brot. is an interesting aromatic plant due to the valuable monoterpenes it produces\\nconsidering their properties and biological activities. Several chemotypes have been identified in this species,\\nhowever, essential oil composition can vary throughout the year in the terpenes’ relative percentage. The first\\nobjective was to evaluate chemical stability, based on a 20-month survey in essential oil (EO) composition\\nthrough GC and GC-MS, in two accessions belonging to the carvacrol chemotype, Tc2 and Tc4. Together with this\\nevaluation, a quantitative study of gene expression was performed through reverse transcription quantitative\\nPCR (RT-qPCR), for the most important genes involved in the biosynthesis of γ-terpinene (precursor of thymol\\nand carvacrol), TcTPS2 and TcTPS4, and α-terpineol, TcTPS5. This second objective addressed the correlation\\nbetween seasonal EO variation and terpene synthase gene expression patterns and compared the trends of seasonal\\nvariation between both plant accessions. The results show 22, 48 and 90-fold variation in gene expression\\nfor TcTPS2, TcTPS4 and TcTPS5, respectively. Expression of TcTPS5 was much more variable than those coding\\nfor γ-terpinene synthase. The two accessions evaluated showed Tc2 had a more stable gene expression compared\\nto Tc4. Although gene expression and terpene accumulation were in accordance for most timepoints, no significant\\noverall correlation could be found. Our results suggest a transcriptional regulation for TcTPS2 and\\nTcTPS4. For TcTPS5 regulation at post transcriptional level must be present, accounting for differences in the\\nα-terpineol relative amount and adding new layers of complexity in specialized metabolism. Further studies\\nshould be pursued to identify all the players involved in controlling the final bouquet of essential oil composition.


Institution
FACULDADE DE CIÊNCIAS DA UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA

Where published
Industrial Crops and Products

Publication Identifiers
ISSN - 0926-6690

Publisher
Elsevier BV



Document Identifiers
DOI - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2021.114312
URL - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2021.114312

Rankings
SCOPUS Q1 (2021) - 9.6 - Agronomy and Crop Science

Keywords
Terpene synthases Gene expression Thymus Essential oils Chemotypes QPCR