title: Functional characterization of sesquiterpene synthase from Polygonum minus.
abstract: Polygonum minus is an aromatic plant, which contains high abundance of terpenoids, especially the sesquiterpenes C15H24. Sesquiterpenes were believed to contribute to the many useful biological properties in plants. This study aimed to functionally characterize a full length sesquiterpene synthase gene from P. minus. P. minus sesquiterpene synthase (PmSTS) has a complete open reading frame (ORF) of 1689 base pairs encoding a 562 amino acid protein. Similar to other sesquiterpene synthases, PmSTS has two large domains: the N-terminal domain and the C-terminal metal-binding domain. It also consists of three conserved motifs: the DDXXD, NSE/DTE, and RXR. A three-dimensional protein model for PmSTS built clearly distinguished the two main domains, where conserved motifs were highlighted. We also constructed a phylogenetic tree, which showed that PmSTS belongs to the angiosperm sesquiterpene synthase subfamily Tps-a. To examine the function of PmSTS, we expressed this gene in Arabidopsis thaliana. Two transgenic lines, designated as OE3 and OE7, were further characterized, both molecularly and functionally. The transgenic plants demonstrated smaller basal rosette leaves, shorter and fewer flowering stems, and fewer seeds compared to wild type plants. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of the transgenic plants showed that PmSTS was responsible for the production of β -sesquiphellandrene.
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ; Institute of Systems Biology (INBIOSIS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Su-Fang
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5159-940X
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Ee
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ; Institute of Systems Biology (INBIOSIS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Zeti-Azura
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Mohamed-Hussein
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ; Institute of Systems Biology (INBIOSIS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Roohaida
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Othman
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Noor Azmi
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Shaharuddin
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ; Institute of Systems Biology (INBIOSIS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Ismanizan
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3576-9077
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ismail
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ; Institute of Systems Biology (INBIOSIS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Zamri
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zainal
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D053898:Biosynthetic Pathways; D002934:Cinnamates / Q000494:pharmacology; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D023061:Gene Order; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006921:Hygromycin B / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D028502:Polygonum / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D011487:Protein Conformation; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002934:Cinnamates; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D010940:Plant Proteins; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; D006921:Hygromycin B; C026273:hygromycin A