title: Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of a novel chalcone synthase cDNA from Ginkgo biloba.
abstract: A chalcone synthase (CHS) gene was cloned from Ginkgo biloba for the first time and it was also the first cloned gene involved in flavonoids metabolic pathway in G. biloba. The full-length cDNA of G. biloba CHS (designated as Gbchs) was 1608bp with poly(A) tailing and it contained a 1173bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 391 amino acid protein. Gbchs was found to have extensive homology with those of other plant chs genes via multiple alignments. The active sites of the CoA binding, coumaroyl pocket and cyclization pocket in CHS protein of Medicago sativa were also found in GbCHS. Molecular modeling of GbCHS indicated that the three-dimensional structure of GbCHS strongly resembled that of M. sativa (MsCHS2), implying GbCHS may have similar functions with MsCHS2. Phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that GbCHS had closer relationship with CHSs from gymnosperm plants than from other plants. Gbchs is a useful tool to study the regulation of flavonoids metabolism in G. biloba.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan-SJTU-Nottingham Plant Biotechnology R & D Center, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, P R China.
authors.forename: Yongzhen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: Guo-An
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Chenghong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xiaojun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Xiaofen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Kexuan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000217:Acyltransferases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020441:Ginkgo biloba / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D000217:Acyltransferases; C020141:flavanone synthetase