title: Functional expression of an orchid fragrance gene in Lactococcus lactis.
abstract: Vanda Mimi Palmer (VMP), an orchid hybrid of Vanda tesselata and Vanda Tan Chay Yan is a highly scented tropical orchid which blooms all year round. Previous studies revealed that VMP produces a variety of isoprenoid volatiles during daylight. Isoprenoids are well known to contribute significantly to the scent of most fragrant plants. They are a large group of secondary metabolites which may possess valuable characteristics such as flavor, fragrance and toxicity and are produced via two pathways, the mevalonate (MVA) pathway or/and the 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) pathway. In this study, a sesquiterpene synthase gene denoted VMPSTS, previously isolated from a floral cDNA library of VMP was cloned and expressed in Lactococcus lactis to characterize the functionality of the protein. L. lactis, a food grade bacterium which utilizes the mevalonate pathway for isoprenoid production was found to be a suitable host for the characterization of plant terpene synthases. Through recombinant expression of VMPSTS, it was revealed that VMPSTS produced multiple sesquiterpenes and germacrene D dominates its profile.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM Serdang Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Adelene Ai Lian
authors.initials: AAL
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM Serdang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Janna O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Abdullah
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM Serdang Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Mohd Puad
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Abdullah
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM Serdang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Norazizah
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shafee
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM Serdang Selangor, Malaysia.|Institute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM Serdang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Raha A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Rahim
mesh_terms: D019883:Alkyl and Aryl Transferases / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D017343:Genes, Plant; D013294:Lactococcus lactis / Q000235:genetics*; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000378:metabolism*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D013729:Terpenes / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009822:Oils, Volatile; D010940:Plant Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D013729:Terpenes; D019883:Alkyl and Aryl Transferases; C108877:terpene synthase