| Author |
Moses, Tessa Pollier, Jacob Shen, Qian Soetaert, Sandra Reed, James Erffelinck, Marie-Laure Van Nieuwerburgh, Filip C. W. Vanden Bossche, Robin Osbourn, Anne Thevelein, Johan M. Deforce, Dieter Tang, Kexuan Goossens, Alain |
| Description |
Author Affiliation: Moses T ( Department of Plant Systems Biology, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), B-9052 Gent, Belgium Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, B-9052 Gent, Belgium Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute of Botany and Microbiology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuve); Pollier J ( Department of Plant Systems Biology, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), B-9052 Gent, Belgium Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, B-9052 Gent, Belgium.); Shen Q ( Key Laboratory of Urban Agriculture (South) Ministry of Agriculture, Plant Biotechnology Research Center, Fudan-SJTU-Nottingham Plant Biotechnology R&D Center, School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China.); Soetaert S ( Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.); Reed J ( Department of Metabolic Biology, John Innes Centre, Norwich NR4 7UH, United Kingdom.); Erffelinck ML ( Department of Plant Systems Biology, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), B-9052 Gent, Belgium Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, B-9052 Gent, Belgium.); Van Nieuwerburgh FC ( Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.); Vanden Bossche R ( Department of Plant Systems Biology, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), B-9052 Gent, Belgium Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, B-9052 Gent, Belgium.); Osbourn A ( Department of Metabolic Biology, John Innes Centre, Norwich NR4 7UH, United Kingdom.); Thevelein JM ( Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute of Botany and Microbiology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium Department of Molecular Microbiology, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), B-3001 Leuven-Heverlee, Belgium.); Deforce D ( Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.); Tang K ( Key Laboratory of Urban Agriculture (South) Ministry of Agriculture, Plant Biotechnology Research Center, Fudan-SJTU-Nottingham Plant Biotechnology R&D Center, School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China.); Goossens A ( Department of Plant Systems Biology, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), B-9052 Gent, Belgium Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, B-9052 Gent, Belgium alain.goossens@psb-vib.ugent.be.) |
| Abstract |
Artemisia annua is widely studied for its ability to accumulate the antimalarial sesquiterpenoid artemisinin. In addition to producing a variety of sesquiterpenoids, A. annua also accumulates mono-, di-, and triterpenoids, the majority of which are produced in the glandular trichomes. A. annua also has filamentous trichomes on its aerial parts, but little is known of their biosynthesis potential. Here, through a comparative transcriptome analysis between glandular and filamentous trichomes, we identified two genes, OSC2 and CYP716A14v2, encoding enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of specialized triterpenoids in A. annua. By expressing these genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Nicotiana benthamiana, we characterized the catalytic function of these proteins and could reconstitute the specialized triterpenoid spectrum of A. annua in these heterologous hosts. OSC2 is a multifunctional oxidosqualene cyclase that produces -amyrin, ß-amyrin, and δ-amyrin. CYP716A14v2 is a P450 belonging to the functionally diverse CYP716 family and catalyzes the oxidation of pentacyclic triterpenes, leading to triterpenes with a carbonyl group at position C-3, thereby providing an alternative biosynthesis pathway to 3-oxo triterpenes. Together, these enzymes produce specialized triterpenoids that are constituents of the wax layer of the cuticle covering the aerial parts of A. annua and likely function in the protection of the plant against biotic and abiotic stress. |
