Overexpression of the Alters Cutin Composition of Reproductive Tissues in Arabidopsis.

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) catalyzes a wide variety of monooxygenation reactions in plant primary and secondary metabolisms. Land plants contain CYP703, belonging to the CYP71 clan, which catalyzes the biochemical pathway of fatty acid hydroxylation, especially in male reproductive tissues. Korean/Asian ginseng ( Meyer) has been regarded as one of important medicinal plant for a long time, however the molecular mechanism is less known on its development. In this study, we identified and characterized a gene in (), regarding reproductive development. shared a high-sequence identity (81-83%) with predicted amino acid as CYP703 in , , and as well as 76% of amino acid sequence identity with reported in and 75% with . Amino acid alignment and phylogenetic comparison of with higher plants and known members clearly distinguish the CYP703 members, each containing the AATDTS oxygen binding motif and PERH as a clade signature. The expression of was only detected in flower buds, particularly in meiotic cells and the tapetum layer of developing anther, indicating the conserved role on male reproduction with At- and Os- CYP703. To acquire the clue of function, we transformed the in . Independent overexpressing lines (ox) increased silique size and seed number, and altered the contents of fatty acids composition of cutin monomer in the siliques. Our results indicate that is involved in fatty acid hydroxylation which affects cutin production and fruit size.