The Evolution of Flavonoid Biosynthesis: A Bryophyte Perspective

Overview

Journal Front Plant Sci

Date 2020 Mar 3

PMID 32117358

Citations 69

Authors

Kevin M Davies

Rubina Jibran

Yanfei Zhou

Nick W Albert

David A Brummell

Brian R Jordan

John L Bowman

Kathy E Schwinn

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The flavonoid pathway is one of the best characterized specialized metabolite pathways of plants. In angiosperms, the flavonoids have varied roles in assisting with tolerance to abiotic stress and are also key for signaling to pollinators and seed dispersal agents. The pathway is thought to be specific to land plants and to have arisen during the period of land colonization around 550-470 million years ago. In this review we consider current knowledge of the flavonoid pathway in the bryophytes, consisting of the liverworts, hornworts, and mosses. The pathway is less characterized for bryophytes than angiosperms, and the first genetic and molecular studies on bryophytes are finding both commonalities and significant differences in flavonoid biosynthesis and pathway regulation between angiosperms and bryophytes. This includes biosynthetic pathway branches specific to each plant group and the apparent complete absence of flavonoids from the hornworts.

Citing Articles

Flavonoids and anthocyanins in seagrasses: implications for climate change adaptation and resilience.

Botes J, Ma X, Chang J, Van de Peer Y, Berger D Front Plant Sci. 2025; 15:1520474.

PMID: 39935685 PMC: 11810914. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1520474.

Pan-phylum genomes of hornworts reveal conserved autosomes but dynamic accessory and sex chromosomes.

Schafran P, Hauser D, Nelson J, Xu X, Mueller L, Kulshrestha S Nat Plants. 2025; 11(1):49-62.

PMID: 39753957 DOI: 10.1038/s41477-024-01883-w.

Evolutionary analysis of anthocyanin biosynthetic genes: insights into abiotic stress adaptation.

Buitrago S, Yang X, Wang L, Pan R, Zhang W Plant Mol Biol. 2024; 115(1):6.

PMID: 39680184 DOI: 10.1007/s11103-024-01540-y.

Genome-wide analysis of flavonoid biosynthetic genes in Musaceae (, , and species) reveals amplification of flavonoid 3',5'-hydroxylase.

Cui D, Xiong G, Ye L, Gornall R, Wang Z, Heslop-Harrison P AoB Plants. 2024; 16(5):plae049.

PMID: 39450414 PMC: 11500454. DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plae049.

Flavonoids - flowers, fruit, forage and the future.

Albert N, Lafferty D, Moss S, Davies K J R Soc N Z. 2024; 53(3):304-331.

PMID: 39439482 PMC: 11459809. DOI: 10.1080/03036758.2022.2034654.

References

Waterman M, Nugraha A, Hendra R, Ball G, Robinson S, Keller P . Antarctic Moss Biflavonoids Show High Antioxidant and Ultraviolet-Screening Activity. J Nat Prod. 2017; 80(8):2224-2231. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.7b00085. View

Arasan S, Park J, Ahmed N, Jung H, Hur Y, Kang K . Characterization and expression analysis of dirigent family genes related to stresses in Brassica. Plant Physiol Biochem. 2013; 67:144-53. DOI: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2013.02.030. View

Puttick M, Morris J, Williams T, Cox C, Edwards D, Kenrick P . The Interrelationships of Land Plants and the Nature of the Ancestral Embryophyte. Curr Biol. 2018; 28(5):733-745.e2. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.01.063. View

Soriano G, Cloix C, Heilmann M, Nunez-Olivera E, Martinez-Abaigar J, Jenkins G . Evolutionary conservation of structure and function of the UVR8 photoreceptor from the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha and the moss Physcomitrella patens. New Phytol. 2017; 217(1):151-162. DOI: 10.1111/nph.14767. View

Yin R, Ulm R . How plants cope with UV-B: from perception to response. Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2017; 37:42-48. DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2017.03.013. View

Boucherle B, Peuchmaur M, Boumendjel A, Haudecoeur R . Occurrences, biosynthesis and properties of aurones as high-end evolutionary products. Phytochemistry. 2017; 142:92-111. DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2017.06.017. View

Kondou Y, Miyagi Y, Morito T, Fujihira K, Miyauchi W, Moriyama A . Physiological function of photoreceptor UVR8 in UV-B tolerance in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha. Planta. 2019; 249(5):1349-1364. DOI: 10.1007/s00425-019-03090-w. View

Agati G, Tattini M . Multiple functional roles of flavonoids in photoprotection. New Phytol. 2010; 186(4):786-793. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03269.x. View

Morales L, Brosche M, Vainonen J, Jenkins G, Wargent J, Sipari N . Multiple roles for UV RESISTANCE LOCUS8 in regulating gene expression and metabolite accumulation in Arabidopsis under solar ultraviolet radiation. Plant Physiol. 2012; 161(2):744-59. PMC: 3561016. DOI: 10.1104/pp.112.211375. View

10.

Taniguchi S, Yazaki K, Yabuuchi R, Kawakami K, Ito H, Hatano T . Galloylglucoses and riccionidin A in Rhus javanica adventitious root cultures. Phytochemistry. 2000; 53(3):357-63. DOI: 10.1016/s0031-9422(99)00399-4. View

11.

Bradley D, Xu P, Mohorianu I, Whibley A, Field D, Tavares H . Evolution of flower color pattern through selection on regulatory small RNAs. Science. 2017; 358(6365):925-928. DOI: 10.1126/science.aao3526. View

12.

Li J, Ou-Lee T, Raba R, Amundson R, Last R . Arabidopsis Flavonoid Mutants Are Hypersensitive to UV-B Irradiation. Plant Cell. 1993; 5(2):171-179. PMC: 160260. DOI: 10.1105/tpc.5.2.171. View

13.

Harholt J, Moestrup O, Ulvskov P . Why Plants Were Terrestrial from the Beginning. Trends Plant Sci. 2015; 21(2):96-101. DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2015.11.010. View

14.

Kubo H, Nozawa S, Hiwatashi T, Kondou Y, Nakabayashi R, Mori T . Biosynthesis of riccionidins and marchantins is regulated by R2R3-MYB transcription factors in Marchantia polymorpha. J Plant Res. 2018; 131(5):849-864. DOI: 10.1007/s10265-018-1044-7. View

15.

Cho M, Moinuddin S, Helms G, Hishiyama S, Eichinger D, Davin L . (+)-Larreatricin hydroxylase, an enantio-specific polyphenol oxidase from the creosote bush (Larrea tridentata). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003; 100(19):10641-6. PMC: 196857. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1934562100. View

16.

Cohen M, Sakihama Y, Takagi Y, Ichiba T, Yamasaki H . Synergistic effect of deoxyanthocyanins from symbiotic fern Azolla spp. on hrmA gene induction in the cyanobacterium Nostoc punctiforme. Mol Plant Microbe Interact. 2002; 15(9):875-82. DOI: 10.1094/MPMI.2002.15.9.875. View

17.

Ban Z, Qin H, Mitchell A, Liu B, Zhang F, Weng J . Noncatalytic chalcone isomerase-fold proteins in are auxiliary components in prenylated flavonoid biosynthesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018; 115(22):E5223-E5232. PMC: 5984530. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1802223115. View

18.

Farag M, Deavours B, de Fatima A, Naoumkina M, Dixon R, Sumner L . Integrated metabolite and transcript profiling identify a biosynthetic mechanism for hispidol in Medicago truncatula cell cultures. Plant Physiol. 2009; 151(3):1096-113. PMC: 2773099. DOI: 10.1104/pp.109.141481. View

19.

Bowman J, Araki T, Kohchi T . Marchantia: Past, Present and Future. Plant Cell Physiol. 2016; 57(2):205-9. DOI: 10.1093/pcp/pcw023. View

20.

Cockell C, Knowland J . Ultraviolet radiation screening compounds. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 1999; 74(3):311-45. DOI: 10.1017/s0006323199005356. View