Plant diterpene synthases: exploring modularity and metabolic diversity for bioengineering.

Area of Science:

• Plant biochemistry and natural product biosynthesis.
• Enzymology of diterpenoid metabolism.
• Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology.

Background:

• Plants synthesize numerous diterpenoid natural products with significant industrial applications, including pharmaceuticals, fragrances, and food additives.
• Diterpene synthases (diTPS) are key enzymes responsible for generating diverse diterpene hydrocarbon scaffolds in nature.
• Oxygenation of diterpenes is typically mediated by cytochrome P450 enzymes, although some diTPS exhibit this activity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore novel diterpene synthase (diTPS) functions within complex plant metabolic pathways.
• To understand the role of diTPS in generating diverse diterpenoid scaffolds and oxygenated products.
• To lay the groundwork for developing advanced bioengineered production systems for valuable diterpenoids.

Main Methods:

• Utilized genome-, transcriptome-, and metabolome-guided approaches for gene discovery.
• Performed enzyme characterization to elucidate novel diTPS functions.
• Investigated the integration of diTPS within modular metabolic pathway systems.

Main Results:

• Identified novel diterpene synthase (diTPS) functions through integrated multi-omics analyses.
• Characterized new diTPS enzymes involved in the formation of diterpenoid hydrocarbon scaffolds.
• Demonstrated that novel diTPS functions are integral components of complex modular metabolic pathways.

Conclusions:

• Recent discoveries have unveiled new diterpene synthase (diTPS) capabilities in plants.
• These findings enhance our understanding of diterpenoid metabolism and natural product biosynthesis.
• Insights gained can drive the development of innovative bioengineered microbial and plant-based production systems for valuable compounds.