No abstract

A Catharanthus roseus mutant accumulates high levels of ajmalicine at the expense of catharanthine and vindoline. The altered chemistry depends on increased expression and biochemical activities of strictosidine β-glucosidase and ajmalicine synthase activities and reduced expression and biochemical activity of geissoschizine synthase. The Madagascar periwinkle [Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don] is a commercially important horticultural flower species and is a valuable source for several monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs), such as the powerful antihypertensive drug ajmalicine and the antineoplastic agents, vinblastine and vincristine. While biosynthesis of the common MIA precursor strictosidine and its reactive aglycones has been elucidated, the branch point steps leading to the formation of different classes of MIAs remain poorly characterized. Screening of 3600 ethyl methyl sulfonate mutagenized C. roseus plants using a simple thin-layer chromatography screen yielded a mutant (M2-0754) accumulating high levels of ajmalicine together with significantly lower levels of catharanthine and vindoline. Comparative bioinformatic analyses, virus-induced gene silencing, and biochemical characterization identified geissoschizine synthase, the gateway enzyme that controls flux for the formation of iboga and aspidosperma MIAs. The reduction of geissoschizine synthase transcripts in this high ajmalicine mutant, together with increased transcripts and enzyme activities of strictosidine β-glucosidase and of heteroyohimbine synthase, explains the preferential formation of ajmalicine in the mutant instead of catharanthine and vindoline that accumulates in the wild-type parent. Reciprocal crosses established that that the high ajmalicine phenotype is inherited as a Mendelian recessive trait.

A one-pot system for efficient enzymatic synthesis of curcumin glucosides is described. The method couples the activities of two recombinant enzymes, UDP-glucose: curcumin glucosyltransferase from Catharanthus roseus (CaUGT2) and sucrose synthase from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtSUS1). UDP, a product inhibitor of UDP-glucosyltransferase, was removed from the system and used for regeneration of UDP-glucose by the second enzyme, AtSUS1. The productivity was increased several-fold and UDP-glucose initially added to the reaction mixture could be reduced to one-tenth of the normal level. The concept of enhancing glucosylation efficiency by coupling a UDP-glucose regeneration system with glucosyltransferases should be applicable to enzymatic production of a wide range of glucosides.

Sugar-sugar glycosyltransferases play an important role in structural diversity of small molecule glycosides in higher plants. We isolated a cDNA clone encoding a sugar-sugar glucosyltransferase (CaUGT3) catalyzing 1,6-glucosylation of flavonol and flavone glucosides for the first time from Catharanthus roseus. CaUGT3 exhibited a unique glucosyl chain elongation activity forming not only gentiobioside but also gentiotrioside and gentiotetroside in a sequential manner. We investigated the functional properties of CaUGT3 using homology modeling and site-directed mutagenesis, and identified amino acids positioned in the acceptor-binding pocket as crucial for providing enough space to accommodate flavonoid glucosides instead of flavonoid aglycones. These results provide basic information for understanding and engineering the catalytic functions of sugar-sugar glycosyltransferases involved in biosynthesis of plant glycosides.