AUTHOR=Fu Xueqing , Shi Pu , He Qian , Shen Qian , Tang Yueli , Pan Qifang , Ma Yanan , Yan Tingxiang , Chen Minghui , Hao Xiaolong , Liu Pin , Li Ling , Wang Yuliang , Sun Xiaofen , Tang Kexuan
TITLE=AaPDR3, a PDR Transporter 3, Is Involved in Sesquiterpene β-Caryophyllene Transport in Artemisia annua
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science
VOLUME=8
YEAR=2017
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2017.00723
DOI=10.3389/fpls.2017.00723
ISSN=1664-462X
ABSTRACT=
Artemisinin, a sesquiterpenoid endoperoxide, isolated from the plant Artemisia annua L., is widely used in the treatment of malaria. Another sesquiterpenoid, β-caryophyllene having antibiotic, antioxidant, anticarcinogenic and local anesthetic activities, is also presented in A. annua. The role played by sesquiterpene transporters in trichomes and accumulation of these metabolites is poorly understood in A. annua and in trichomes of other plant species. We identified AaPDR3, encoding a pleiotropic drug resistance (PDR) transporter located to the plasma membrane from A. annua. Expression of AaPDR3 is tissue-specifically and developmentally regulated in A. annua. GUS activity is primarily restricted to T-shaped trichomes of old leaves and roots of transgenic A. annua plants expressing proAaPDR3: GUS. The level of β-caryophyllene was decreased in transgenic A. annua plants expressing AaPDR3-RNAi while transgenic A. annua plants expressing increased levels of AaPDR3 accumulated higher levels of β-caryophyllene. When AaPDR3 was expressed in transformed yeast, yeasts expressing AaPDR3 accumulated more β-caryophyllene, rather than germacrene D and β-farnesene, compared to the non-expressing control.