We have previously shown that gene clusters for biosyntheses of terpentecin and BE-40644, a diterpene antibiotic and a sesquiterpene antibiotic, respectively, were located in the adjacent mevalonate pathway gene clusters. In this study, a mevalonate pathway gene cluster was cloned from Streptomyces sp. strain KO-3988, which was known to produce furaquinocin A, employing a hybridization experime...

Ent-kaurene diterpenoids are the largest group of known Isodon diterpenoids. Among them, oridonin is accumulated in the leaves, and is the most frequently studied compound because of its antitumor and antibacterial activities. We have identified five copalyl diphosphate synthase (CPS) and six kaurene synthase-like (KSL) genes by transcriptome profiling of Isodon rubescens leaves. An in vitro as...

Salvia divinorum (Lamiaceae) is an annual herb used by indigenous cultures of Mexico for medicinal and ritual purposes. The biosynthesis of salvinorin A, its major bioactive neo-clerodane diterpenoid, remains virtually unknown. This investigation aimed to identify the enzyme that catalyzes the first reaction of salvinorin A biosynthesis, the formation of (-)-kolavenyl diphosphate [(-)-KPP], whi...

Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge is highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine for its roots and rhizomes. Its bioactive diterpenoid tanshinones have been reported to have many pharmaceutical activities, including antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties. Previous studies found four different diterpenoid biosynthetic pathways from the universal diterpenoid precursor (E,E,E)-geran...

Fusicoccins are a class of diterpene glucosides produced by the plant-pathogenic fungus Phomopsis amygdali. As modulators of 14-3-3 proteins, fusicoccins function as potent activators of plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase in plants and also exhibit unique biological activity in animal cells. Despite their well studied biological activities, no genes encoding fusicoccin biosynthetic enzymes have been i...

Recently, the biosynthetic pathway for lycopadiene, a C40 tetraterpenoid hydrocarbon, was deciphered from the L race of Botryococcus braunii, an alga that produces hydrocarbon oils capable of being converted into combustible fuels. The lycopadiene pathway is initiated by the squalene synthase (SS)-like enzyme lycopaoctaene synthase (LOS), which catalyzes the head-to-head condensation of two C20...

Bacterial interactions with plants are accompanied by complex signal exchange processes. Previously, the nitrogen-fixing symbiotic (rhizo)bacterium Bradyrhizobium japonicum was found to carry adjacent genes encoding two sequentially acting diterpene cyclases that together transform geranylgeranyl diphosphate to ent-kaurene, the olefin precursor to the gibberellin plant hormones. Species from th...

Arabidopsis thaliana contains two genes encoding farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) synthase (FPS), the prenyl diphoshate synthase that catalyzes the synthesis of FPP from isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP). In this study, we provide evidence that the two Arabidopsis short FPS isozymes FPS1S and FPS2 localize to the cytosol. Both enzymes were expressed in E. coli, purif...

The discovery of large supramolecular complexes such as the purinosome suggests that subcellular organization is central to enzyme regulation. A screen of the yeast GFP strain collection to identify proteins that assemble into visible structures identified four novel filament systems comprised of glutamate synthase, guanosine diphosphate-mannose pyrophosphorylase, cytidine triphosphate (CTP) sy...

In this study, the plants of maize (Zea mays L.cv.ksc700) were grown in Hoagland solution containing 1, 3 and 5 mM KH2PO4 or K2HPO4 under controlled conditions. At similar levels of mono and diphosphate, plants supplied with monophosphate have produced higher content of dry matter and characterized with higher total chlorophyll content and longer and well proliferated root system than those tre...