Genomics and biochemical analyses reveal a metabolon key to β-L-ODAP biosynthesis in Lathyrus sativus

• Published in: Nature communications 2023-02, Vol.14 (1), p.876-16, Article 876
• Main Authors: Edwards, Anne, Njaci, Isaac, Sarkar, Abhimanyu, Jiang, Zhouqian, Kaithakottil, Gemy George, Moore, Christopher, Cheema, Jitender, Stevenson, Clare E. M., Rejzek, Martin, Novák, Petr, Vigouroux, Marielle, Vickers, Martin, Wouters, Roland H. M., Paajanen, Pirita, Steuernagel, Burkhard, Moore, Jonathan D., Higgins, Janet, Swarbreck, David, Martens, Stefan, Kim, Colin Y., Weng, Jing-Ke, Mundree, Sagadevan, Kilian, Benjamin, Kumar, Shiv, Loose, Matt, Yant, Levi, Macas, Jiří, Wang, Trevor L., Martin, Cathie, Emmrich, Peter M. F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 45/15; 45/22; 45/23; 45/91; 631/208/726; 631/208/8; 631/449/2667; 631/45/607/1167; 82/103; 82/58; Acyltransferase; Amino Acids, Diamino - metabolism; Biosynthesis; Climate change; Crops; Cultivars; Drought; Food security; Genetic resources; Genomes; Genomics; Grass peas; Humanities and Social Sciences; Lathyrus - genetics; Lathyrus - metabolism; Lathyrus sativus; multidisciplinary; Neurotoxins; Neurotoxins - metabolism; Nucleotide sequence; Oxalyldiaminopropionic acid; Peas; Plant breeding; Protein sources; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Toxins
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36503-2

Grass pea ( Lathyrus sativus L.) is a rich source of protein cultivated as an insurance crop in Ethiopia, Eritrea, India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Its resilience to both drought and flooding makes it a promising crop for ensuring food security in a changing climate. The lack of genetic resources and the crop’s association with the disease neurolathyrism have limited the cultivation of grass pea. Here, we present an annotated, long read-based assembly of the 6.5 Gbp L. sativus genome. Using this genome sequence, we have elucidated the biosynthetic pathway leading to the formation of the neurotoxin, β-L-oxalyl-2,3-diaminopropionic acid (β-L-ODAP). The final reaction of the pathway depends on an interaction between L. sativus acyl-activating enzyme 3 (LsAAE3) and a BAHD-acyltransferase (LsBOS) that form a metabolon activated by CoA to produce β-L-ODAP. This provides valuable insight into the best approaches for developing varieties which produce substantially less toxin. Grass pea is a multi-stress tolerant orphan crop and developing cultivars with decreased accumulation of the neurotoxin β-L-oxalyl-2,3-diaminopropionic acid (β-L-ODAP) is one of its breeding objectives. Here, the authors assemble its genome and reveal genes involved in the biosynthesis of β-L-ODAP.