Total biosynthesis of the cyclic AMP booster forskolin from Coleus forskohlii.

Forskolin is a unique structurally complex labdane-type diterpenoid used in the treatment of glaucoma and heart failure based on its activity as a cyclic AMP booster. Commercial production of forskolin relies exclusively on extraction from its only known natural source, the plant Coleus forskohlii, in which forskolin accumulates in the root cork. Here, we report the discovery of five cytochrome P450s and two acetyltransferases which catalyze a cascade of reactions converting the forskolin precursor 13R-manoyl oxide into forskolin and a diverse array of additional labdane-type diterpenoids. A minimal set of three P450s in combination with a single acetyl transferase was identified that catalyzes the conversion of 13R-manoyl oxide into forskolin as demonstrated by transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana. The entire pathway for forskolin production from glucose encompassing expression of nine genes was stably integrated into Saccharomyces cerevisiae and afforded forskolin titers of 40 mg/L.

Improving heterologous production of phenylpropanoids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by tackling an unwanted side reaction of Tsc13, an endogenous double-bond reductase.

Phenylpropanoids, such as flavonoids and stilbenoids, are of great commercial interest, and their production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a very promising strategy. However, to achieve commercially viable production, each step of the process must be optimised. We looked at carbon loss, known to occur in the heterologous flavonoid pathway in yeast, and identified an endogenous enzyme, the enoyl reductase Tsc13, which turned out to be responsible for the accumulation of phloretic acid via reduction of p-coumaroyl-CoA. Tsc13 is an essential enzyme involved in fatty acid synthesis and cannot be deleted. Hence, two approaches were adopted in an attempt to reduce the side activity without disrupting the natural function: site saturation mutagenesis identified a number of amino acid changes which slightly increased flavonoid production but without reducing the formation of the side product. Conversely, the complementation of TSC13 by a plant gene homologue essentially eliminated the unwanted side reaction, while retaining the productivity of phenylpropanoids in a simulated fed batch fermentation.

Expanding the Landscape of Diterpene Structural Diversity through Stereochemically Controlled Combinatorial Biosynthesis.

Plant-derived diterpenoids serve as important pharmaceuticals, food additives, and fragrances, yet their low natural abundance and high structural complexity limits their broader industrial utilization. By mimicking the modularity of diterpene biosynthesis in plants, we constructed 51 functional combinations of class I and II diterpene synthases, 41 of which are "new-to-nature". Stereoselective biosynthesis of over 50 diterpene skeletons was demonstrated, including natural variants and novel enantiomeric or diastereomeric counterparts. Scalable biotechnological production for four industrially relevant targets was accomplished in engineered strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Convergent evolution in biosynthesis of cyanogenic defence compounds in plants and insects.

For more than 420 million years, plants, insects and their predators have co-evolved based on a chemical arms race including deployment of refined chemical defence systems by each player. Cyanogenic glucosides are produced by numerous plants and by some specialized insects and serve an important role as defence compounds in these intimate interactions. Burnet moth larvae are able to sequester cyanogenic glucosides from their food plant as well as to carry out de novo biosynthesis. Here we show that three genes (CYP405A2, CYP332A3 and UGT33A1) encode the entire biosynthetic pathway of cyanogenic glucosides in the Burnet moth Zygaena filipendulae. In both plants and insects, convergent evolution has led to two multifunctional P450 enzymes each catalysing unusual reactions and a glucosyl-transferase acting in sequence to catalyse cyanogenic glucoside formation. Thus, plants and insects have independently found a way to package a cyanide time bomb to fend off herbivores and predators.

Biosynthesis of the cyanogenic glucosides linamarin and lotaustralin in cassava: isolation, biochemical characterization, and expression pattern of CYP71E7, the oxime-metabolizing cytochrome P450 enzyme.

Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is a eudicotyledonous plant that produces the valine- and isoleucine-derived cyanogenic glucosides linamarin and lotaustralin with the corresponding oximes and cyanohydrins as key intermediates. CYP79 enzymes catalyzing amino acid-to-oxime conversion in cyanogenic glucoside biosynthesis are known from several plants including cassava. The enzyme system converting oxime into cyanohydrin has previously only been identified in the monocotyledonous plant great millet (Sorghum bicolor). Using this great millet CYP71E1 sequence as a query in a Basic Local Alignment Search Tool-p search, a putative functional homolog that exhibited an approximately 50% amino acid sequence identity was found in cassava. The corresponding full-length cDNA clone was obtained from a plasmid library prepared from cassava shoot tips and was assigned CYP71E7. Heterologous expression of CYP71E7 in yeast afforded microsomes converting 2-methylpropanal oxime (valine-derived oxime) and 2-methylbutanal oxime (isoleucine-derived oxime) to the corresponding cyanohydrins, which dissociate into acetone and 2-butanone, respectively, and hydrogen cyanide. The volatile ketones were detected as 2.4-dinitrophenylhydrazone derivatives by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. A K(S) of approximately 0.9 µm was determined for 2-methylbutanal oxime based on substrate-binding spectra. CYP71E7 exhibits low specificity for the side chain of the substrate and catalyzes the conversion of aliphatic and aromatic oximes with turnovers of approximately 21, 17, 8, and 1 min(-1) for the oximes derived from valine, isoleucine, tyrosine, and phenylalanine, respectively. A second paralog of CYP71E7 was identified by database searches and showed approximately 90% amino acid sequence identity. In tube in situ polymerase chain reaction showed that in nearly unfolded leaves, the CYP71E7 paralogs are preferentially expressed in specific cells in the endodermis and in most cells in the first cortex cell layer. In fully unfolded leaves, the expression is pronounced in the cortex cell layer just beside the epidermis and in specific cells in the vascular tissue cortex cells. Thus, the transcripts of the CYP71E7 paralogs colocalize with CYP79D1 and CYP79D2. We conclude that CYP71E7 is the oxime-metabolizing enzyme in cyanogenic glucoside biosynthesis in cassava.

454 pyrosequencing based transcriptome analysis of Zygaena filipendulae with focus on genes involved in biosynthesis of cyanogenic glucosides.

BACKGROUND: An essential driving component in the co-evolution of plants and insects is the ability to produce and handle bioactive compounds. Plants produce bioactive natural products for defense, but some insects detoxify and/or sequester the compounds, opening up for new niches with fewer competitors. To study the molecular mechanism behind the co-adaption in plant-insect interactions, we have investigated the interactions between Lotus corniculatus and Zygaena filipendulae. They both contain cyanogenic glucosides which liberate toxic hydrogen cyanide upon breakdown. Moths belonging to the Zygaena family are the only insects known, able to carry out both de novo biosynthesis and sequestration of the same cyanogenic glucosides as those from their feed plants. The biosynthetic pathway for cyanogenic glucoside biosynthesis in Z. filipendulae proceeds using the same intermediates as in the well known pathway from plants, but none of the enzymes responsible have been identified. A genomics strategy founded on 454 pyrosequencing of the Z. filipendulae transcriptome was undertaken to identify some of these enzymes in Z. filipendulae. RESULTS: Comparisons of the Z. filipendulae transcriptome with the sequenced genomes of Bombyx mori, Drosophila melanogaster, Tribolium castaneum, Apis mellifera and Anopheles gambiae indicate a high coverage of the Z. filipendulae transcriptome. 11% of the Z. filipendulae transcriptome sequences were assigned to Gene Ontology categories. Candidate genes for enzymes functioning in the biosynthesis of cyanogenic glucosides (cytochrome P450 and family 1 glycosyltransferases) were identified based on sequence length, number of copies and presence/absence of close homologs in D. melanogaster, B. mori and the cyanogenic butterfly Heliconius. Examination of biased codon usage, GC content and selection on gene candidates support the notion of cyanogenesis as an "old" trait within Ditrysia, as well as its origins being convergent between plants and insects. CONCLUSION: Pyrosequencing is an attractive approach to gain access to genes in the biosynthesis of bio-active natural products from insects and other organisms, for which the genome sequence is not known. Based on analysis of the Z. filipendulae transcriptome, promising gene candidates for biosynthesis of cyanogenic glucosides was identified, and the suitability of Z. filipendulae as a model system for cyanogenesis in insects is evident.

Identification of a xylogalacturonan xylosyltransferase involved in pectin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis.

Xylogalacturonan (XGA) is a class of pectic polysaccharide found in plant cell walls. The Arabidopsis thaliana locus At5g33290 encodes a predicted Type II membrane protein, and insertion mutants of the At5g33290 locus had decreased cell wall xylose. Immunological studies, enzymatic extraction of polysaccharides, monosaccharide linkage analysis, and oligosaccharide mass profiling were employed to identify the affected cell wall polymer. Pectic XGA was reduced to much lower levels in mutant than in wild-type leaves, indicating a role of At5g33290 in XGA biosynthesis. The mutated gene was designated xylogalacturonan deficient1 (xgd1). Transformation of the xgd1-1 mutant with the wild-type gene restored XGA to wild-type levels. XGD1 protein heterologously expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana catalyzed the transfer of xylose from UDP-xylose onto oligogalacturonides and endogenous acceptors. The products formed could be hydrolyzed with an XGA-specific hydrolase. These results confirm that the XGD1 protein is a XGA xylosyltransferase. The protein was shown by expression of a fluorescent fusion protein in N. benthamiana to be localized in the Golgi vesicles as expected for a glycosyltransferase involved in pectin biosynthesis.

CYP79B1 from Sinapis alba converts tryptophan to indole-3-acetaldoxime.

The cytochrome P450 CYP79B1 from Sinapis alba has been heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli and shown to catalyze the conversion of tryptophan to indole-3-acetaldoxime. Three expression constructs were made, one expressing the native protein and two expressing proteins with different N-terminal modifications. The native construct gave the highest yield as estimated by enzymatic activity per liter of culture. Spheroplasts of E. coli expressing CYP79B1 were reconstituted with the Arabidopsis thaliana NADPH:cytochrome P450 reductase ATR1 heterologously expressed in E. coli to obtain enzymatic activity. This indicates that the E. coli electron-donating system, flavodoxin/flavodoxin reductase, does not support CYP79B1 activity. Recombinant CYP79B1 has a K(m) for tryptophan of 29+/-2 microM and a V(max) of 36.5+/-0.7nmolh(-1)(mlculture)(-1). The identity at the amino acid level of CYP79B1 is, respectively, 93 and 84% to CYP79B2 and CYP79B3 from A. thaliana, and 96% to CYP79B5 (Accession No. AF453287) from Brassica napus. The CYP79B subfamily of cytochromes P450 is likely to constitute a group of orthologous genes in the biosynthesis of indole glucosinolates.