Identification of key genes involved in the biosynthesis of triterpenic acids in the mint family

Abstract

Triterpenic acids (TAs), a large group of natural compounds with diverse biological activity, are produced by several plant taxa. Betulinic, oleanolic, and ursolic acids are the most medicinally important TAs and are mainly found in plants of the mint family. Metabolic engineering is strongly dependent on identifying the key genes in biosynthetic pathways toward the products of interest. In this study, gene expression tracking was performed by transcriptome mining, co-expression network analysis, and tissue-specific metabolite-expression analysis in order to identify possible key genes involved in TAs biosynthetic pathways. To this end, taxa-specific degenerate primers of six important genes were designed using an effective method based on the MEME algorithm in a phylogenetically related group of sequences and successfully applied in three members of the Lamiaceae (Rosmarinus officinalis, Salvia officinalis, and Thymus persicus). Based on the results of in-depth data analysis, genes encoding squalene epoxidase and oxido squalene cyclases are proposed as targets for boosting triterpene production. The results emphasize the importance of identifying key genes in triterpene biosynthesis, which may facilitate genetic manipulation or overexpression of target genes.

An Extract of Transgenic Senna obtusifolia L. hairy roots with Overexpression of PgSS1 Gene in Combination with Chemotherapeutic Agent Induces Apoptosis in the Leukemia Cell Line

“…To date, such roots have been obtained from at least 150 plant species from 41 families. Interference with selected elements of their metabolic pathways can lead to overproduction of many valuable metabolites [37], one of which is squalene synthase (SS, EC 2.5.1.21): a key enzyme that catalyzes the first enzymatic step in the biosynthesis of triterpenoids, such as betulinic acid [38]. Such compounds have significant medicinal and economic value [39][40][41].…”

Genomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic analysis of Traditional Chinese Medicine plantOldenlandia corymbosareveals the biosynthesis and mode of action of anti-cancer metabolites

“…To this end, we produced 42 RNA-seq samples from control leaves, stems, flowers, and roots, and leaves and roots from five stress conditions, cold at 8°C and 15°C, heat, and two high light stresses (Figure 4D). Since the genes of the ursolic and oleanolic acid biosynthesis pathway are characterized in other plants 48,49 , we carried out homology searches and expression profile analyses of the predicted genes and found two genes that putatively belong to the ursolic acid pathway: Olcov1051885 and Olcov1029517. Olcov1051885P1 belongs to the Cytochrome P450 superfamily and is homologous to Arabidopsis AT5G36130 .…”

Multi-Omics Data Mining: A Novel Tool for BioBrick Design

“…For instance, all classes of NPs found in plants were targeted using TM in the last years. Most reports focused on terpenoids, including papers on the identification of single enzymes such as terpene cyclases/synthases [108], associated biocatalysts [109] or comparative evolutionary studies of genes in whole plant families such as Pinaceae [110] or Lamiaceae [111]. An outstanding example is the mining for biocatalysts involved in the biosynthesis of the insecticidal limonoid azadirachtin in neem (Azadirachta indica) [112].…”