A pathogen-inducible divinyl ether synthase (CYP74D) from elicitor-treated potato suspension cells

In elicitor-treated potato cells, 9-lipoxygenase-derived oxylipins accumulate with the divinyl ether colneleic acid as the major metabolite. Here, the identification of a potato cDNA is described, whose predicted amino acid sequence corresponds to divinyl ether synthases, belonging to the recently identified new P450 subfamily CYP74D. The recombinant protein was expressed in Escherichia coli and shown to metabolize 9-hydroperoxy linoleic acid to colneleic acid at pH 6.5. This fatty acid derivative has been implicated in functioning as a plant antimicrobial compound. RNA blot analyses revealed accumulation of divinyl ether synthase transcripts both upon infiltration of potato leaves with Pseudomonas syringae and after infection with Phytophthora infestans.