Functional divergence of tandem duplicate SCPL acyltransferase genes reveals convergent evolution of chicoric acid biosynthesis

Chicoric acid, a caffeic acid derivative exhibiting diverse bioactivities, has been identified in more than 60 plant species. Here we report an alternative biosynthetic pathway in lettuce (Lactuca sativa). BAHD acyltransferases catalyze the synthesis of chlorogenic acid, which serves as the acyl donor for four serine carboxypeptidase-like (SCPL) acyltransferases (LsSCPL1-4) encoded by tandemly duplicated genes. LsSCPL2 and LsSCPL4 catalyze the synthesis of chicoric acid using caftaric acid as the acyl acceptor. In contrast to the BAHD acyltransferases found in Echinacea species, LsSCPL1 and LsSCPL3 alter their substrate preferences through key amino acid substitutions and use tartaric acid as the acyl acceptor to synthesize caftaric acid. These tandemly duplicated SCPL genes are observed across several evolutionarily related species within the tribe Cichorieae. These findings illustrate the convergent evolution of chicoric acid biosynthesis in Asteraceae and highlight the complexity of acyltransferase activity in specialized metabolism in plants.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Science Advances

• Publication date

  2025-11-07

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Chemistry, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1126/sciadv.ady8282PMID 41202139PMCID 12594194
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Self‐activating and chromosomally colocalized LsERF166 positively regulates costunolide biosynthesis in lettuce

  2025cited by this paper
• Multi-omics study reveals a light-dependent regulatory network of flavonoid biosynthesis in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)

  2025cited by this paper
• Phylogenomic and synteny analysis of BAHD and SCP/SCPL gene families reveal their evolutionary histories in plant specialized metabolism

  2024cited by this paper
• Accurate structure prediction of biomolecular interactions with AlphaFold 3

  2024cited by this paper
• SCPL acyltransferases catalyze the metabolism of chlorogenic acid during purple coneflower seed germination.

  2024cited by this paper
• AMIR: a multi-omics data platform for Asteraceae plants genetics and breeding research

  2024cited by this paper
• EpMYB2 positively regulates chicoric acid biosynthesis by activating both primary and specialized metabolic genes in purple coneflower.

  2024cited by this paper
• Multi-Omics Analyses of Two Leonurus Species Illuminate Leonurine Biosynthesis and Its Evolution.

  2023cited by this paper
• SlERF.G3‐Like mediates a hierarchical transcriptional cascade to regulate ripening and metabolic changes in tomato fruit

  2023cited by this paper
• OUP accepted manuscript

  2022cited by this paper
• Chicoric Acid: Natural Occurrence, Chemical Synthesis, Biosynthesis, and Their Bioactive Effects

  2022cited by this paper
• Insights into acylation mechanisms: co‐expression of serine carboxypeptidase‐like acyltransferases and their non‐catalytic companion paralogs

  2022cited by this paper
• FitDock: protein-ligand docking by template fitting

  2022cited by this paper
• Substrate promiscuity of acyltransferases contributes to the diversity of hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives in purple coneflower.

  2022cited by this paper
• Biosynthesis and Cellular Functions of Tartaric Acid in Grapevines

  2021cited by this paper
• Chicoric acid provides better ultraviolet protection than the sum of its substrates in purple coneflower plants

  2021cited by this paper
• Diversity of antioxidant ingredients among Echinacea species

  2021cited by this paper
• Caffeoylquinic acids: Chemistry, biosynthesis, occurrence, analytical challenges, and bioactivity.

  2021cited by this paper
• Versatility in acyltransferase activity completes chicoric acid biosynthesis in purple coneflower

  2021cited by this paper
• The Yin and Yang of traditional Chinese and Western medicine

  2021cited by this paper
• First‐generation genome editing in potato using hairy root transformation

  2020cited by this paper
• Natural Products as Sources of New Drugs over the Nearly Four Decades from 01/1981 to 09/2019.

  2020cited by this paper
• Exploring Uncharted Territories of Plant Specialized Metabolism in the Postgenomic Era.

  2020cited by this paper
• The Structure and Function of Major Plant Metabolite Modifications.

  2019cited by this paper
• Correlation of the temporal and spatial expression patterns of HQT with the biosynthesis and accumulation of chlorogenic acid in Lonicera japonica flowers

  2019cited by this paper
• Plant SCPL acyltransferases: multiplicity of enzymes with various functions in secondary metabolism

  2018cited by this paper
• Genome assembly with in vitro proximity ligation data and whole-genome triplication in lettuce

  2017cited by this paper
• Refined sgRNA efficacy prediction improves large- and small-scale CRISPR–Cas9 applications

  2017cited by this paper
• The Genetics of Plant Metabolism.

  2017cited by this paper
• A viral protease relocalizes in the presence of the vector to promote vector performance

  2017cited by this paper
• A modular toolbox for gRNA–Cas9 genome engineering in plants based on the GoldenBraid standard

  2016cited by this paper
• CCTop: An Intuitive, Flexible and Reliable CRISPR/Cas9 Target Prediction Tool

  2015cited by this paper
• Explaining intraspecific diversity in plant secondary metabolites in an ecological context.

  2014cited by this paper
• The vacuolar channel VvALMT9 mediates malate and tartrate accumulation in berries of Vitis vinifera

  2013cited by this paper
• The Rise of Chemodiversity in Plants

  2012cited by this paper
• Convergent evolution in plant specialized metabolism.

  2011cited by this paper
• Engineering secondary metabolite production in hairy roots

  2011cited by this paper
• Antibody Preparation, Gene Expression and Subcellular Localization of L-Idonate Dehydrogenase in Grape Berry

  2010cited by this paper
• Environmental stresses induce health-promoting phytochemicals in lettuce.

  2009cited by this paper
• The sng2 mutant of Arabidopsis is defective in the gene encoding the serine carboxypeptidase-like protein sinapoylglucose:choline sinapoyltransferase.

  2001cited by this paper
• Twinned Genes Live Life in the Fast Lane

  2000cited by this paper
• Improved method for high efficiency transformation of intact yeast cells.

  1992cited by this paper
• Site-directed mutagenesis by overlap extension using the polymerase chain reaction.

  1989cited by this paper
• Chicoric acid (dicaffeyltartic acid): Its isolation from chicory (Chicorium intybus) and synthesis

  1958cited by this paper

• No citing papers are available for this paper.