Evidence for p-hydroxybenzoate formation involving enzymatic phenylpropanoid side-chain cleavage in hairy roots of Daucus carota

In this study, methyl jasmonate (MJ)-elicited hairy root cultures of Daucus carota were explored to study the enzymatic route to p-hydroxybenzoic acid (p-HBA) biosynthesis. Treatment with 100 μM MJ caused an enhanced accumulation of p-HBA as well as total phenolic content in elicited root lines as compared to untreated (controls) lines. Using cell-free extract as the source of crude enzymes, attempt was made to reveal the enzymatic route to p-HBA formation. The accumulation of p-HBA was preceded by a substantial upliftment of p-hydroxybenzaldehyde dehydrogenase (HBD) activity in elicited lines as compared to controls. A rapid 6-fold enhancement of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity, the first enzyme of the phenylpropanoid pathway was also observed. Finally, we demonstrated here for the first time, in D. carota, the evidence of a quite unusual p-hydroxybenzaldehyde synthase (HBS)-type enzyme, which catalyzes the penultimate step of p-HBA biosynthesis by making phenylpropanoid side-chain cleavage of p-coumaric acid without involvement of any cofactor(s), but uplifted by supplementation of a thiol reagent such as DTT in the reaction buffer. This enzyme showed activity in a relatively broad pH range (7–8.4) and the temperature optimum was found to be at 34 °C. The MJ-treated roots showed highest HBS activity at 24 h (52 nkat/mg protein), which was nearly 5-fold higher than that in the control lines.