Polyketides sorgoleone

Molecular and Biochemical Characterization of Novel Polyketide Synthases Likely to Be Involved in the Biosynthesis of Sorgoleone... 

The EST data was mined for candidate polyketide synthases using both the Magic Gene Discovery software (19), and also analyzed by BLAST searches using functionally characterized plant type III polyketide synthase sequences as queries against the EST dataset translated in all possible reading frames. From these analyses, 9 polyketide synthase-like EST s were identified in the root hair EST data set (Table I). Furthermore, candidate EST s were identified for all the other enzymes proposed to be part of the sorgoleone biosynthetic pathway (data not shown). 

A secondary screen using real-time PCR was used to identify candidate polyketide synthases whose expression pattern correlated with the accumulation of sorgoleone. Gene-specific primers were designed for the 5 contigs and singletons representing the polyketide synthases (Table I). Real time PCR was... 

The combination of a root hair specific EST approach and expression analysis was an effective strategy for isolating candidate polyketide synthases potentially involved in sorgoleone biosynthesis. As a result of these efforts, two novel type III polyketide synthases have been identified that preferentially use long chain acyl Co-A s and are potentially involved in sorgoleone biosynthesis. These candidate polyketide synthases can form pentadecatriene resorcinol, an intermediate in sorgoleone biosynthesis. Furthermore, these efforts may aid in the identification of other polyketide synthases responsible for the biosynthesis of phenolic lipids in other plant species. 

Cook, D. et al. (2007) Molecular and biochemical characterization of a novel polyketide syoi-thase likely to be involved in the biosymthesis of sorgoleone. Am. Chem. Soc. Symp. Ser. 955, 141-151... 

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