TPS gene family

The immense diversity of terpene metabolites known today is especially due to the large terpene synthase (TPS) gene family evolution and the versatility of the enzymes encoded by it. Most gymnosperm terpene synthases form a different family from those in angiosperms. However, phylogenetic analyses support the fact that all plant TPS have evolved from an ancestral diterpene synthase implicated with primary metabolism [4]. 

To date, the TPS gene family consists of more than 100 members (with about a third isolated from flowers and fruits) which have been... 

Whiting PJ, Bonnert TP, McKernan RM, Farrar S, Le Bourdelles B, et al. 1999. Molecular and functional diversity of the expanding GABA-A receptor gene family. Ann NY Acad Sci 868 645-653. 

Recent studies have described the complex, constitutive, and MeJA- and insect-induced terpenoid defenses in Norway spruce and Sitka spruce at anatomical, chemical, and biochemical levels. " Miller et al. compared the effect of MeJA treatment and white pine weevil attack on induced terpenoid defenses in Sitka spruce. They found that MeJA and real insects induce very similar terpenoid responses at the biochemical and molecular levels. The cloning and functional characterization of a family of ten, functionally diverse Norway spruce TPS genes not only allowed an improved phylogeny of the conifer TPS-d gene family but also allowed a detailed molecular and biochemical characterization of induced changes in terpenoid metabolite profiles in spruce defense. Many of the products of the recently identified Norway spruce TPS genes correspond with components of terpenoid metabolite profiles after MeJA treatment or insect attack in species of spruce. Our work on Norway spruce terpenoid responses to MeJA treatment " is discussed here with an emphasis on those compounds that are products of the newly characterized spruce TPS genes. ... 

This correlative analysis of terpenoid accumulation, TPS enzyme activities, and functional characterization of a family of cloned TPS genes in Norway spruce and Sitka spruce in response to MeJA treatment and insect attack will guide future studies regarding differential expression of TPS genes in conifer defense, including in situ localization of gene expression and TPS enzymes. 

Sharkey, T.D., Gray, D.W., PeU, H.K., Breneman, S.R. et al (2013) Isoprene synthase genes form a monophyletic clade of acyclic terpene synthases in the tps-b terpene synthase family. Evolution, S7, 1026-1040. 

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