• DOI:10.1126/science.aan0826
• Corpus ID: 206658803

Emission of volatile organic compounds from petunia flowers is facilitated by an ABC transporter

@article{Adebesin2017EmissionOV,
  title={Emission of volatile organic compounds from petunia flowers is facilitated by an ABC transporter},
  author={Funmilayo Adebesin and Joshua R. Widhalm and Beno{\^i}t Boachon and François Lef{\`e}vre and Baptiste Pierman and Joseph H. Lynch and Iftekhar Alam and Bruna Junqueira and Ryan Benke and Shaunak Ray and Justin A. Porter and Makoto Yanagisawa and Hazel Y. Wetzstein and John A. Morgan and Marc Boutry and Robert C. Schuurink and Natalia Dudareva},
  journal={Science},
  year={2017},
  volume={356},
  pages={1386 - 1388}
}

• Funmilayo Adebesin, Joshua R. Widhalm, +14 authors N. Dudareva
• Published 30 June 2017
• Biology
• Science

Active transport of aromas Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) serve as invisible lines of communication among host plants, pathogens, commensals, community groups, and, with flowers, their pollinators. Studying petunia flowers, Adebesin et al. show that VOCs do not passively diffuse out of the cells but are actively shuttled across the plasma membrane by an ABC (ATP-binding cassette) transporter (see the Perspective by Eberl and Gershenzon). Disabling the transporter results in damage to the cell's membranes by intracellular accumulation of VOCs. Science, this issue p. 1386; see also p. 1334 Rather than simply diffusing out of cells, volatile organic compounds in petunias require an active transporter. Plants synthesize a diversity of volatile molecules that are important for reproduction and defense, serve as practical products for humans, and influence atmospheric chemistry and climate. Despite progress in deciphering plant volatile biosynthesis, their release from the cell has been poorly understood. The default assumption has been that volatiles passively diffuse out of cells. By characterization of a Petunia hybrida adenosine triphosphate–binding cassette (ABC) transporter, PhABCG1, we demonstrate that passage of volatiles across the plasma membrane relies on active transport. PhABCG1 down-regulation by RNA interference results in decreased emission of volatiles, which accumulate to toxic levels in the plasma membrane. This study provides direct proof of a biologically mediated mechanism of volatile emission.