title: Alkylresorcinol biosynthesis in plants: new insights from an ancient enzyme family?
abstract: Alkylresorcinols are members of an extensive family of bioactive compounds referred to as phenolic lipids, which occur primarily in plants, fungi, and bacteria. In plants, alkylresorcinols and their derivatives are thought to serve important roles as phytoanticipins and allelochemicals, although direct evidence for this is still somewhat lacking. Specialized type III polyketide synthases (referred to as 'alkylresorcinol synthases'), which catalyze the formation of 5-alkylresorcinols using fatty acyl-CoA starter units and malonyl-CoA extender units, have been characterized from several microbial species, however until very recently little has been known concerning their plant counterparts. Through the use of sorghum and rice EST and genomic data sets, significant inroads have now been made in this regard. Here we provide additional information concerning our recent report on the identification and characterization of alkylresorcinol synthases from Sorghum bicolor and Oryza sativa, as well as a brief consideration of the emergence of this intriguing subfamily of enzymes.
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Natural Products Utilization Research Unit, MS, USA. scott.baerson@ars.usda.gov
authors.forename: Scott R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Baerson
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schröder
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: Agnes M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Rimando
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Franck E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Dayan
authors.forename: Brice P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Noonan
authors.forename: Stephen O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Duke
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D055162:Biocatalysis; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D012275:Oryza / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism*; D048630:Polyketide Synthases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012118:Resorcinols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012118:Resorcinols; D048630:Polyketide Synthases