Proanthocyanidin subunit composition determined by functionally diverged dioxygenases
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Updated: Feb 2, 2026

Multi-target Parallel Processing Approach for Gene-to-structure Determination of the Influenza Polymerase PB2 Subunit
Published on: June 28, 2013
Ji Hyung Jun1, Xirong Xiao1, Xiaolan Rao1
1BioDiscovery Institute and Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA.
Abstract:
Proanthocyanidins (PAs) are primarily composed of the flavan-3-ol subunits (-)-epicatechin and/or (+)-catechin, but the basis for their different starter and extension unit compositions remains unclear. Genetic and biochemical analyses show that, in the model legume Medicago truncatula, two 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases, anthocyanidin synthase (ANS) and its homologue leucoanthocyanidin dioxygenase (LDOX), are involved in parallel pathways to generate, respectively, the (-)-epicatechin extension and starter units of PAs, with (+) catechin being an intermediate in the formation of the (-)-epicatechin starter unit. The presence/absence of the LDOX pathway accounts for natural differences in PA compositions across species, and engineering loss of function of ANS or LDOX provides a means to obtain PAs with different compositions and degrees of polymerization for use in food and feed.
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