Nucleotide-Dependent Reprogramming of mRNAs Encoding Acetyl Coenzyme A Carboxylase and Lipoxygenase in Relation to the Fat Contents of Peanut

Abstract

The nucleotide-dependent reprogramming of the mRNAs encoding acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACC, EC 6.4.1.2) and lipoxygenase (LO, EC 1.13.11.12) was studied by Northern analysis. Equal concentrations of total RNA from the peanut (Arachis hypogaea L. cv. “Valencia”) seedlings were probed with those glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH)-synthesized RNAs that were homologous to the mRNAs encoding ACC and LO. Treatment (4NTPs solution) of the peanuts increased the abundance of the mRNAs encoding the LO and ACC about 5 and 10 folds respectively but decreased the fat accumulation by 37% compared with the control peanut. Treatments (pyrimidine NTPs)of the peanut induced up to 60% more fat accumulation than the control. The high fat (40.0–44.0%) contents of the UTP-, and 3NTP-treated peanuts were characterized by very high abundance of the mRNA for ACC, but low abundance of the mRNA for LO. The inverse relationship between the abundance of the mRNAs encoding ACC and LO compared with the seedlings fat contents was due to the plus/minus strands sequence homologies between the Northern probes for ACC and LO. Therefore, LO, ACC, and the GDH-synthesized RNAs participated in the regulation of the fat contents. These results could be useful in the environmental manipulation of the quantity and quality of peanut oil.