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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center » Cell Wall Biology and Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #312324
Title: Beyond brown: polyphenol oxidases as enzymes of plant specialized metabolism

Author
item Sullivan, Michael

Submitted to: Frontiers in Plant Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/17/2014
Publication Date: 1/14/2015
Citation: Sullivan, M.L. 2015. Beyond brown: polyphenol oxidases as enzymes of plant specialized metabolism. Frontiers in Plant Science. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2014.00783.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Most cloned and/or characterized plant polyphenol oxidases (PPOs) have catecholase activity (i.e., they oxidize o-diphenols to o-quinones) and are localized or predicted to be localized to plastids. As a class, they have broad substrate specificity and are associated with browning of produce and other plant materials. Because PPOs are often induced by wounding or pathogen attack, they are most generally believed to play important roles in plant defense responses. However, a few well-characterized PPOs appear to have specific roles in the biosynthesis of specialized metabolites. Here we detail a few of these examples and explore the possibility that there may be many more of these “biosynthetic” PPOs.