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A Customizable Approach for the Enzymatic Production and Purification of Diterpenoid Natural Products
Published on: October 4, 2019
Complete biosynthetic pathway of furochromones in Saposhnikovia divaricata and its evolutionary mechanism in Apiaceae
Jian-Lin Zou1, Hong-Ye Li1, Bao Nie2
1State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China.
Abstract:
Furochromones are specific bioactive secondary metabolites of many Apiaceae plants. Their biosynthesis remains largely unexplored. In this work, we dissect the complete biosynthetic pathway of major furochromones in the medicinal plant Saposhnikovia divaricata by characterizing prenyltransferase, peucenin cyclase, methyltransferase, hydroxylase, and glycosyltransferases. De novo biosynthesis of prim-O-glucosylcimifugin and 5-O-methylvisamminoside is realized in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. Through comparative genomic and transcriptomic analyses, we further find that proximal duplication and high expression of a pentaketide chromone synthase gene SdPCS, together with the presence of a lineage-specific peucenin cyclase gene SdPC, lead to the predominant accumulation of furochromones in the roots of S. divaricata among surveyed Apiaceae plants. This study paves the way for metabolic engineering production of furochromones, and sheds light into evolutionary mechanisms of furochromone biosynthesis among Apiaceae plants.
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