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Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Isolation and Compositional Analysis of Plant Cuticle Lipid Polyester Monomers
Published on: November 22, 2015
Characterization of a monoterpene synthase from Paeonia lactiflora producing α-pinene as its single product
Xiaohui Ma1,2, Juan Guo2, Ying Ma2,3
1Pharmacy College, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, People's Republic of China.
Objectives:
To identify a terpene synthase that catalyzes the conversion of geranyl pyrophosphate (GPP) to α-pinene and is involved in the biosynthesis of paeoniflorin.
Results:
Two new terpene synthase genes were isolated from the transcriptome data of Peaonia lactiflora. Phylogenetic analysis and sequence characterization revealed that one gene, named PlPIN, encoded a monoterpene synthase that might be involved in the biosynthesis of paeoniflorin. In vitro enzyme assay showed that, in contrast to most monoterpene synthases, PlPIN encoded an α-pinene synthase which converted GPP into α-pinene as a single product.
Conclusions:
This newly identified α-pinene synthase could be used for improving paeoniflorin accumulation by metabolic engineering or for producing α-pinene via synthetic biology.
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