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Updated: Feb 17, 2026

A Customizable Approach for the Enzymatic Production and Purification of Diterpenoid Natural Products
Published on: October 4, 2019
Identification, characterization and expression analysis of genes involved in steroidal saponin biosynthesis in
Jia-Hong Zhu1, Hui-Liang Li1, Dong Guo1
1Key Laboratory of Tropical Crop Biotechnology, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, 571101, China.
Abstract:
Dracaena cambodiana is a traditional medicinal plant used for producing dragon's blood. The plants and dragon's blood of D. cambodiana contain a rich variety of steroidal saponins. However, little is known about steroidal saponin biosynthesis and its regulation in D. cambodiana. Here, 122 genes encoding enzymes involved in steroidal saponin biosynthesis were identified based on transcriptome data, with 29 of them containing complete open reading frames (ORF). Transcript expression analysis revealed that several genes related to steroidal saponin biosynthesis showed distinct tissue-specific expression patterns; the expression levels of genes encoding the key enzymes involved in the biosynthesis and early modification of steroidal saponins were significantly down-regulated in the stems in response to the inducer of dragon's blood, exhibiting positive correlations with the content of steroidal saponins. These results provide insights on the steroidal saponins biosynthetic pathway and mechanisms underlying induced formation of dragon's blood in D. cambodiana.

