VC1 and the production of vicine and convicine in the genus Vicia

Many Vicia species contain vicine and convicine (VC), which limit the use of faba bean and some vetches in food and feed. The first step in VC biosynthesis in V. faba is shared with the riboflavin pathway and attributed to VC1, a member of the ribAB family. Since riboflavin is ubiquitous to life, we examined the distribution of VC production in genus Vicia. Three accessions of each of 33 Vicia species were grown in glasshouse conditions to provide fresh seeds for VC analysis and leaves for DNA analysis. PCR was used to amplify fragments of the VC1/ribAB gene for sequencing, and these sequences were used to create a phylogenetic tree. COX1 and ITS2 sequences were used for examining the nucleotide diversity in the subgenera. VC and DNA sequences consistent with VC1 were found only in members of subgenus Vicia. In V. lathyroides, VC1 was present but no VC was detected. There was less sequence diversity in VC1/ribAB sequences of subgenus Cracca than in those of subgenus Vicia, suggesting that ribAB remained under stricter purifying selection than VC1. VC1 is confirmed as a prerequisite for the presence of VC, and the gene and its products are restricted to subgenus Vicia. HighlightThe favism-causing factors of vetches and faba bean, vicine and convicine, depend on the presence of the VC1 variant of the ribAB gene, which is found in only one subgenus.