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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » Natural Products Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #187300
Title: Molecular and Biochemical Characterization of Novel Polyketide Synthases Likely To Be Involved in the Biosynthesis of Sorgoleone

Author
item Cook, Daniel
item Dayan, Franck
item Rimando, Agnes
item NANAYAKKARA, DHAMMIKA - UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI
item Pan, Zhiqiang - Peter
item Duke, Stephen
item Baerson, Scott

Submitted to: American Chemical Society Symposium Series
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/30/2005
Publication Date: 1/20/2007
Citation: Cook, D., Dayan, F.E., Rimando, A.M., Nanayakkara, D., Pan, Z., Duke, S.O., Baerson, S.R. 2007. Molecular and Biochemical Characterization of Novel Polyketide Synthases Likely To Be Involved in the Biosynthesis of Sorgoleone. American Chemical Society Symposium Series. 955:141-151.

Interpretive Summary: This is a meeting proceedings/symposium publication and no interpretive summary is required.

Technical Abstract: Sorgoleone, an oily exudate secreted from the root hairs of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), acts as a potent allelochemical. Its phytotoxic properties make the elucidation of the biosynthetic enzymes participating in this pathway desirable. Previous studies suggest that the biosynthetic pathway of sorgoleone involves a polyketide synthase as well as a fatty acid desaturase, an O-methyl transferase, and a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase. This polyketide synthase is proposed to use a novel long chain fatty acyl-CoA (C16:3) as a starter unit and catalyzes three iterative condensation reactions using malonyl-CoA to form a transient linear tetraketide that cyclizes to form a pentadecatriene resorcinol. To identify the polyketide synthase gene(s) involved in the biosynthesis of these alkylresorcinols, a root-hair specific EST (expressed sequence tag) collection was mined for potential candidates. A total of nine polyketide synthase-like EST’s were identified representing five unique contigs, three of which were preferentially expressed in root hairs. The molecular and biochemical characterization of these three candidate polyketide synthases are presented, two of which represent a novel type of type III plant polyketide synthase.