Opine biosynthesis in naturally transgenic plants: Genes and products

The plant pathogen Agrobacterium transfers DNA into plant cells by a specific transfer mechanism. Expression of this transferred DNA or T-DNA leads to crown gall tumors or abnormal, hairy roots and the synthesis of specific compounds, called opines. Opines are produced from common plant metabolites like sugars, amino acids and α-keto acids, which are combined into different low molecular weight structures by T-DNA-encoded opine synthase enzymes. Opines can be converted back by Agrobacterium into the original metabolites and used for agrobacterial growth. Recently it has been discovered that about 7% of Angiosperms carry T-DNA-like sequences. These result from ancient Agrobacterium transformation events, followed by spontaneous regeneration of transformed cells into natural genetically transformed organisms (nGMOs). Nearly all nGMOs identified up to date carry opine synthesis genes, several of these are intact and potentially encode opine synthesis. So far, only tobacco and cuscuta have been demonstrated to contain opines. Whereas opines from crown gall and hairy root tissues have been studied for over 60 years, those from the nGMOs remain to be explored.