title: Characterization and expression profile analysis of a new cDNA encoding taxadiene synthase from Taxus media.
abstract: A full-length cDNA encoding taxadiene synthase (designated as TmTXS), which catalyzes the first committed step in the Taxol biosynthetic pathway, was isolated from young leaves of Taxus media by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The full-length cDNA of TmTXS had a 2586 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a protein of 862 amino acid residues. The deduced protein had isoelectric point (pI) of 5.32 and a calculated molecular weight of about 98 kDa, similar to previously cloned diterpene cyclases from other Taxus species such as T. brevifolia and T. chinenisis. Sequence comparison analysis showed that TmTXS had high similarity with other members of terpene synthase family of plant origin. Tissue expression pattern analysis revealed that TmTXS expressed strongly in leaves, weak in stems and no expression could be detected in fruits. This is the first report on the mRNA expression profile of genes encoding key enzymes involved in Taxol biosynthetic pathway in different tissues of Taxus plants. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that TmTXS had closest relationship with taxadiene synthase from T. baccata followed by those from T. chinenisis and T. brevifolia. Expression profiles revealed by RT-PCR under different chemical elicitor treatments such as methyl jasmonate (MJ), silver nitrate (SN) and ammonium ceric sulphate (ACS) were also compared for the first time, and the results revealed that expression of TmTXS was all induced by the tested three treatments and the induction effect by MJ was the strongest, implying that TmTXS was high elicitor responsive.
authors.affiliation: Plant Biotechnology Research Center, Fudan-SJTU-Nottingham Plant Biotechnology R&D Center, School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Guoyin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kai
authors.forename: Lingxia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhugang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Binhui
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Dongli
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Xiaofen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Zhiqi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Miao
authors.forename: Kexuan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D007535:Isomerases / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D020946:Taxus / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D007535:Isomerases; C095926:taxa-4(5),11(12)-diene synthase