{"entity": "researcher", "timestamp": "2026-03-05T07:48:46.825Z", "family": "Vanholme", "given": "Bartel", "initials": "B", "orcid": "0000-0002-7214-7170", "affiliations": ["Department of Plant Systems Biology, VIB, B-9052 Gent, Belgium (W.S., I.C., R.V., S.C., R.P.K., D.V.d.W., G.G., W.B., B.V.);Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, B-9052 Gent, Belgium (W.S., I.C., R.V., S.C., R.P.K., D.V.d.W., G.G., W.B., B.V.);Department of Botany, Institute of Biosciences, University of S\u00e3o Paulo, 05508-090 Butant\u00e3, S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil (I.C.);Institute of Experimental Botany, the Czech Academy of Sciences, 16502 Prague, the Czech Republic (P.K., E.Z.);School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, CV4 7AL Coventry, United Kingdom (M.Q., R.N.);Ume\u00e5 Plant Science Centre, Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-901 83 Ume\u00e5, Sweden (K.L., O.N.); andLaboratory of Growth Regulators, Centre of the Region Han\u00e1 for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research, Institute of Experimental Botany CAS and Faculty of Science of Palack\u00fd University, \u0160lechtitel\u016f 27, CZ-78371 Olomouc, Czech Republic (O.N.) bartel.vanholme@psb.vib-ugent.be wout.boerjan@psb.vib-ugent.be."], "links": {"self": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/ef6569a7a1814aa5acd9099d26e4b786.json"}, "display": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/ef6569a7a1814aa5acd9099d26e4b786"}}, "publications": [{"entity": "publication", "iuid": "bffdc421008341a591e5c8e562205455", "links": {"self": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/publication/bffdc421008341a591e5c8e562205455.json"}, "display": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/publication/bffdc421008341a591e5c8e562205455"}}, "title": "The Allelochemical MDCA Inhibits Lignification and Affects Auxin Homeostasis.", "authors": [{"family": "Steenackers", "given": "Ward", "initials": "W"}, {"family": "Cesarino", "given": "Igor", "initials": "I", "orcid": "0000-0002-6789-2432", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/cdb44fbb92af48ff92d2854f4bd95a3b.json"}}, {"family": "Kl\u00edma", "given": "Petr", "initials": "P", "orcid": "0000-0001-5678-2919", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/449675d45ea64435a73a60bdf76d3d20.json"}}, {"family": "Quareshy", "given": "Mussa", "initials": "M", "orcid": "0000-0001-8115-9803", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/8b7ecbb5893d4c1ba2d96087ff89cf70.json"}}, {"family": "Vanholme", "given": "Ruben", "initials": "R", "orcid": "0000-0001-5848-3138", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/ab4700dc00c84477b42b04f800342121.json"}}, {"family": "Corneillie", "given": "Sander", "initials": "S"}, {"family": "Kumpf", "given": "Robert Peter", "initials": "RP", "orcid": "0000-0002-4046-6935", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/89a9f19855fe4a719fb69cc7b613764d.json"}}, {"family": "Van de Wouwer", "given": "Dorien", "initials": "D"}, {"family": "Ljung", "given": "Karin", "initials": "K", "orcid": "0000-0003-2901-189X", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/f91b1e1f90c24559b915ebcd265804a4.json"}}, {"family": "Goeminne", "given": "Geert", "initials": "G", "orcid": "0000-0002-0337-2999", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/de05b07d3b044577a9e606d19c3004fd.json"}}, {"family": "Nov\u00e1k", "given": "Ond\u0159ej", "initials": "O", "orcid": "0000-0003-3452-0154", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/8c19165acb9a4ff79dd96af7fccdc5f8.json"}}, {"family": "Za\u017e\u00edmalov\u00e1", "given": "Eva", "initials": "E"}, {"family": "Napier", "given": "Richard", "initials": "R", "orcid": "0000-0002-0605-518X", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/45b807545a9f46ad90011b850dfb1328.json"}}, {"family": "Boerjan", "given": "Wout", "initials": "W", "orcid": "0000-0003-1495-510X", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/c8215f848a3047669e8896145e8db4b5.json"}}, {"family": "Vanholme", "given": "Bartel", "initials": "B", "orcid": "0000-0002-7214-7170", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/ef6569a7a1814aa5acd9099d26e4b786.json"}}], "type": "journal article", "published": "2016-10-00", "journal": {"title": "Plant Physiol.", "issn": "1532-2548", "volume": "172", "issue": "2", "pages": "874-888", "issn-l": "0032-0889"}, "abstract": "The phenylpropanoid 3,4-(methylenedioxy)cinnamic acid (MDCA) is a plant-derived compound first extracted from roots of Asparagus officinalis and further characterized as an allelochemical. Later on, MDCA was identified as an efficient inhibitor of 4-COUMARATE-CoA LIGASE (4CL), a key enzyme of the general phenylpropanoid pathway. By blocking 4CL, MDCA affects the biosynthesis of many important metabolites, which might explain its phytotoxicity. To decipher the molecular basis of the allelochemical activity of MDCA, we evaluated the effect of this compound on Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings. Metabolic profiling revealed that MDCA is converted in planta into piperonylic acid (PA), an inhibitor of CINNAMATE-4-HYDROXYLASE (C4H), the enzyme directly upstream of 4CL. The inhibition of C4H was also reflected in the phenolic profile of MDCA-treated plants. Treatment of in vitro grown plants resulted in an inhibition of primary root growth and a proliferation of lateral and adventitious roots. These observed growth defects were not the consequence of lignin perturbation, but rather the result of disturbing auxin homeostasis. Based on DII-VENUS quantification and direct measurement of cellular auxin transport, we concluded that MDCA disturbs auxin gradients by interfering with auxin efflux. In addition, mass spectrometry was used to show that MDCA triggers auxin biosynthesis, conjugation, and catabolism. A similar shift in auxin homeostasis was found in the c4h mutant ref3-2, indicating that MDCA triggers a cross talk between the phenylpropanoid and auxin biosynthetic pathways independent from the observed auxin efflux inhibition. Altogether, our data provide, to our knowledge, a novel molecular explanation for the phytotoxic properties of MDCA.", "doi": "10.1104/pp.15.01972", "pmid": "27506238", "labels": {"Swedish Metabolomics Centre": "Service"}, "xrefs": [{"db": "pmc", "key": "PMC5047068"}, {"db": "pii", "key": "pp.15.01972"}], "notes": [], "created": "2023-04-12T14:14:52.688Z", "modified": "2025-10-17T13:03:19.381Z"}]}