A new triterpene synthase from Arabidopsis thaliana produces a tricyclic triterpene with two hydroxyl groups.
[structure: see text] Thirteen oxidosqualene cyclase homologues exist in the genome of Arabidopsis thaliana. One of these genes, At4g15340, was amplified by PCR and expressed in yeast. The yeast transformant accumulated tricyclic triterpene, (3S,13R)-malabarica-17,21-dien-3,14-diol (arabidiol), whose structure was determined by NMR and MS analyses. Its epoxide analogue, (3S,13R,21S)-malabarica-17-en-20,21-epoxy-3,14-diol (arabidiol 20,21-epoxide), was also isolated from the transformed yeast. This is the first example of a triterpene synthase that yields a tricyclic triterpene with two hydroxyl groups.
Xiang
Ting
T
Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Japan.
Shibuya
Masaaki
M
Katsube
Yuji
Y
Tsutsumi
Takehiko
T
Otsuka
Miyuki
M
Zhang
Hong
H
Masuda
Kazuo
K
Ebizuka
Yutaka
Y
D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000201:enzymology*; D002384:Catalysis; D019751:Intramolecular Transferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D019906:Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014315:Triterpenes / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
D014315:Triterpenes; D019751:Intramolecular Transferases; C021924:lanosterol synthase