Monoterpenoid biosynthesis

Some early and obvious questions about bark beetle pheromone components concerned their origins are they synthesized de novo from acetate or derived from plant precursor molecules And are the biochemical reactions performed by insect tissues or symbiotic bacteria Ipsdienol and ipsenol are clearly monoterpenoid alcohols. Since de novo monoterpenoid biosynthesis was unprecedented in the Metazoa before 1995, and monoterpenes are produced by host trees, it seemed logical that monoterpenoid pheromone components were derived from ingested plant precursor molecules (reviewed in Vanderwel and... 

Unexpected results have come to light bearing on monoterpenoid biosynthesis (Chapter 1). Banthorpe s group have shown that in the formation of the thujane and camphor skeletons, activity from labelled mevalonic acid can appear predominantly in the C5 unit supposedly derived from isopentenyl pyrophosphate and only to a minor extent in the dimethylallyl pyrophosphate-derived portion. Banthorpe has also presented evidence for a chrysanthemyl intermediate, analogous to presqualene alcohol, in the biosynthesis of artemesia ketone. 

There has been considerable progress in the study of monoterpenoid biosynthesis. " This is reviewed in Chapter 6. 

A cell-free extract from T. vulgare has been prepared that synthesized geraniol and nerol from [2- C]MVA and [4- " C]IPP in high yield (2.4% and 11.9% respectively). Dimethylvinylcarbinol was also incorporated efficiently into monoterpenoid alcohols by the system and this raises the important issue as to its role in monoterpenoid biosynthesis. Both dimethylvinylcarbinol pyrophosphate and DMAPP inhibited the formation of monoterpenoids from (3/ )-[2- C]MVA by the cell-free preparation, and the marked change in the proportions of geraniol and nerol produced in the presence of these additives led to the conclusion that two prenyltransferases were present in the system. The cell-free extract also incorporated [9,10- C2]-a-terpineol and [7- C]terpinen-4-ol into isothujone. The cyclase activity appeared to be associated with a particulate fraction. 

The in vivo transformation of [6-14C]strictosidine (19) to gelsemine in Gelsemium sempervirens was claimed with an incorporation of 0.47% (33). This provides another experimental support to the proposal that strictosidine appears to be the original precursor in the biosynthesis of monoterpenoid indole alkaloids, although the detailed pathway of this biosynthetic process still remains obscure. 

The biosynthesis of monoterpenes, the major components of peppermint essential oils, can be divided into four stages (Fig. 9.4). Stage 1 includes the formation of isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl alcohol (DMAPP). In plants, two separate pathways are utilized for the synthesis of these universal C5 intermediates, with the cytosolic mevalonate pathway being responsible for the formation of sterols and certain sesquiterpenes, and the plastidial mevalonate-independent pathway being involved in the biosynthesis of isoprene, monoterpenes, certain sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, tetraterpenes, as well as the side chains of chlorophyll and plastoquinone.16 In peppermint oil gland secretory cells, however, the mevalonate pathway is blocked and the biosynthesis of monoterpenoid essential... 

Salutaridinol 7-0-acetyltransferase catalyzes the conversion of the phenanthrene alkaloid salutaridinol to salutaridinol-7-Oacetate, the immediate precursor of thebaine along the morphine biosynthetic pathway in P. somniferum (Fig. 10.7).26 Acetyl CoA-dependent acetyltransferases have an important role in plant alkaloid metabolism. They are involved in the synthesis of monoterpenoid indole alkaloids in medicinal plant species such as Rauwolfia serpentina. In this plant, the enzyme vinorine synthase transfers an acetyl group from acetyl CoA to 16-epi-vellosimine to form vinorine. This acetyl transfer is accompanied by a concomitant skeletal rearrangement from the sarpagan- to the ajmalan-type (reviewed in2). An acetyl CoA-dependent acetyltransferase also participates in vindoline biosynthesis in Catharanthus roseus, the source of the chemotherapeutic dimeric indole alkaloid vinblastine (reviewed in2). Acetyl CoA deacetylvindoline 4-O-acetyltransferase catalyzes the last step in vindoline biosynthesis. A cDNA encoding acetyl CoA deacetylvindoline 4-0-acetyltransferase was recently successfully isolated.27... 

Since the last major review of the biosynthesis of the monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (97), there have been several full and partial 98-104) reviews of various aspects of the work that has been conducted since 1974. Two major developments have dominated the field in this period, namely, the demonstrations that (i) strictosidine (33) is the universal precursor of the monoterpenoid indole alkaloids and (ii) selected cell-free systems of C. roseus have the ability to produce the full range of alkaloid structure types, including the bisindoles. This section traces some aspects of these developments, paying particular attention to work been carried out with C. roseus, and omitting work, important though it may be, on other monoterpenoid indole alkaloid-producing plants, e.g., Rauwolfia, Campto-theca, and Cinchona. 

A scheme of possible biosynthesis has been proposed for the Aristotelia indole alkaloids, which include a regular monoterpenoid unit.37... 

Dihydrocarvone [l] was treated with isopropenyl acetate in the presence of p-toluene sulphonic acid and converted into a mixture of enol acetates [2] and [3], separated by GLC Treatment of [2] with boron trifluoride in methylene chloride at room temperature for 10 minutes gave (+) Camphor [U]. This synthesis is particularly interesting in that it is a chemical analogy for the biosynthesis conversion of a monocyclic into a bi-cyclic monoterpenoid. 

The biosynthesis of monoterpenoids and camphor has been described by several authors (108-llU). Ruzicka (115,116) proposed a unified biogenetic scheme for terpenes. The biosynthetic building blocks for these terpenes are iso-prene units. The biosynthetically active isoprene units are isopentenyl pyrophosphate [l] and dimethyl allyl pyrophosphate [2] the compounds that are derived from acetate via mevalonic acid (Scheme V). Geranyl pyrophosphate [3] is the C-10 precursor for the terpenes (117). Banthorpe and Baxendale (ll8) confirmed the biosynthetic pathway of (iamphor via acetate mevalonate by conducting degradation study of camphor, biosynthesized from l c labelled mevalonic acid. The biosynthesis of camphor is summarised in Scheme VI. 

Figure 6.10 De novo biosynthesis of isoprenoid pheromone components by bark and ambrosia beetles through the mevalonate biosynthetic pathway. The end products are hemiterpenoid and monoterpenoid pheromone products common throughout the Scolytidae and Platypodidae (Figure 6.9A). The biosynthesis is regulated by juvenile hormone III (JH III), which is a sesquiterpenoid product of the same pathway. The stereochemistry of JH III is indicated as described in Schooley and Baker (1985). Although insects do not biosynthesize sterols de novo, they do produce a variety of derivatives of isopentenyl diphosphate, geranyl diphosphate, and farnesyl diphosphate. Figure adapted from Seybold and Tittiger (2003).

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