Euphorbia lateriflora stem RNA Raw sequence reads
The linear triterpene, squalene, has traditionally been sourced from shark liver oil, plant sources such as olives and more recently industrial biotechnology based fermentation for use in the cosmetic, food and pharmaceutical industries. Peplusol, an unusual linear analogue of squalene with known anti-fungal activities, has only been described among a few species of the Euphorbiaceae family of flowering plants. Using genomics,transcriptomics and gene characterisation we have discovered two peplusol synthases which are able to drive high peplusol production in heterologous hosts enabling further evaluation and fermentation based production for industry. This work also allows us to propose a route to peplusol synthase molecular evolution via gene duplication and functional divergence from squalene synthase.