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Updated: May 28, 2026

A Customizable Approach for the Enzymatic Production and Purification of Diterpenoid Natural Products
Published on: October 4, 2019
Parsing a multifunctional biosynthetic gene cluster from rice: Biochemical characterization of CYP71Z6 & 7
Yisheng Wu1, Matthew L Hillwig, Qiang Wang
1Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics, & Molecular Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
Abstract:
Rice (Oryza sativa) contains a biosynthetic gene cluster associated with production of at least two groups of diterpenoid phytoalexins, the antifungal phytocassanes and antibacterial oryzalides. While cytochromes P450 (CYP) from this cluster are known to be involved in phytocassane production, such mono-oxygenase activity relevant to oryzalide biosynthesis was unknown. Here we report biochemical characterization demonstrating that CYP71Z6 from this cluster acts as an ent-isokaurene C2-hydroxylase that is presumably involved in the biosynthesis of oryzalides. Our results further suggest that the closely related and co-clustered CYP71Z7 likely acts as a C2-hydroxylase involved in a latter step of phytocassane biosynthesis. Thus, CYP71Z6 & 7 appear to have evolved distinct roles in rice diterpenoid metabolism, offering insight into plant biosynthetic gene cluster evolution.
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