Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41115945›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

A dirigent protein redirects extracellular terpenoid metabolism for defense against biotic challenges.

Jia-Ling Lin, Wen-Kai Wu, Gui-Bin Nie, Jian-Xu Li, Xin Fang, Yin-Guo Sheng, Meng-Meng Wang, Qi-Yue Zheng, Xiao-Xiang Guo, Jia-Fa Huang and 11 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Ancient origins of alkaloid biosynthesis in medicinal clubmosses.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  3. Progress in Molecular Plant Science (2023-2025).Current issues in molecular biology · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

21 authors.

Jia-Ling Lin *State Key Laboratory of Plant Trait Design, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Wen-Kai Wu *State Key Laboratory of Plant Trait Design, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0009-4670-5448
Gui-Bin Nie *State Key Laboratory of Plant Trait Design, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Jian-Xu LiState Key Laboratory of Plant Trait Design, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0117-6038
Xin FangState Key Laboratory of Phytochemistry and Plant Resources in West China, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Yin-Guo ShengState Key Laboratory of Plant Trait Design, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Meng-Meng WangState Key Laboratory of Plant Trait Design, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Qi-Yue ZhengState Key Laboratory of Plant Trait Design, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Xiao-Xiang GuoState Key Laboratory of Plant Trait Design, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Jia-Fa HuangState Key Laboratory of Plant Trait Design, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Li-Ying MaState Key Laboratory of Plant Trait Design, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Ling-Jian WangState Key Laboratory of Plant Trait Design, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Jia-Xin LiuCAS Key Laboratory of Energy Regulation Materials, Center for Excellence in Molecular Synthesis, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0286-274X
Shan-Shan WangState Key Laboratory of Plant Trait Design, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0001-0101-3642
Baofu XuShandong Laboratory of Yantai Drug Discovery, Bohai Rim Advanced Research Institute for Drug Discovery, Yantai, Shandong, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0144-2455
Yiqun GaoGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Plant Epigenetics, College of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
Yan LiShandong Laboratory of Yantai Drug Discovery, Bohai Rim Advanced Research Institute for Drug Discovery, Yantai, Shandong, China.
Dong WangXinjiang Jinfengyuan Seeds Co., Ltd, Xinjiang, China.
Cathie MartinJohn Innes Centre, Norwich, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3640-5080
Xiao-Ya ChenState Key Laboratory of Plant Trait Design, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2909-8414
Jin-Quan HuangState Key Laboratory of Plant Trait Design, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China. huangjinquan@cemps.ac.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1799-6126

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 32388201
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Plants have evolved an extensive repertoire of specialized metabolites to adapt to complex environmental changes. Here, we identify two paralogous dirigent proteins (DPs) in cotton that serve as gatekeepers of extracellular terpenoid phytoalexin production in green organs, directing the transition of hemigossypol away from gossypol synthesis toward a hydroxylation pathway that leads to the biosynthesis of highly toxic hemigossypolone and heliocides. Under oxidative conditions, these proteins function synergistically with aldo-keto reductases to catalyze the hydroxylation of hemigossypol, followed by spontaneous oxidation that yields hemigossypolone, revealing a noncanonical role for aldo-keto reductases in extracellular terpenoid metabolism. Notably, mutants lacking these dirigent proteins produce gossypol but are devoid of hemigossypolone and heliocides in green organs exhibit heightened susceptibility to multiple biotic stresses, underscoring the enhanced protective role of these metabolites. This study describes a DPs-mediated mechanism of extracellular hydroxylation and highlights the potential ecological advantages of redirecting specialized metabolism extracellularly for enhanced defense against varying types of pathogens and herbivores.

Indexed as

GossypiumPlant ProteinsTerpenesGene Expression Regulation, PlantGossypolHydroxylationOxidation-ReductionPhytoalexinsSesquiterpenesGossypolPhytoalexinsPlant ProteinsSesquiterpenesTerpenes

Identifiers

PMID41115945
PMCPMC12537967

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.