A5060745200- Plant biochemistry and biosynthesis
- Microbial Natural Products and Biosynthesis
- Plant Gene Expression Analysis
- Natural product bioactivities and synthesis
- Insect-Plant Interactions and Control
- Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms
- Sesquiterpenes and Asteraceae Studies
- Plant tissue culture and regeneration
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction
- Plant and animal studies
- Allelopathy and phytotoxic interactions
- Seed Germination and Physiology
- Bioactive Natural Diterpenoids Research
- Forest Insect Ecology and Management
- Biological Activity of Diterpenoids and Biflavonoids
- Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
- Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
- Toxin Mechanisms and Immunotoxins
- Pharmacological Effects of Natural Compounds
- Plant and Fungal Interactions Research
- Biochemical and biochemical processes
- Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Insect Resistance and Genetics
- Berry genetics and cultivation research
University of California, Davis
2015-2024
University of Zurich
2008-2020
University of British Columbia
2011-2015
Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre
2011-2015
Ruhr University Bochum
2006-2008
Conifers have dominated forests for more than 200 million years and are of huge ecological economic importance. Here we present the draft assembly 20-gigabase genome Norway spruce (Picea abies), first available any gymnosperm. The number well-supported genes (28,354) is similar to >100 times smaller Arabidopsis thaliana, there no evidence a recent whole-genome duplication in gymnosperm lineage. Instead, large size seems result from slow steady accumulation diverse set long-terminal repeat...
Plants produce a vast array of specialized metabolites, many which are used as pharmaceuticals, flavors, fragrances, and other high-value fine chemicals. However, most these compounds occur in non-model plants for genomic sequence information is not yet available. The production large amount nucleotide data using next-generation technologies now relatively fast cost-effective, especially when the latest Roche-454 Illumina sequencers with enhanced base-calling accuracy. To investigate...
Abstract Plants produce over 10,000 different diterpenes of specialized (secondary) metabolism, and fewer general (primary) metabolism. Specialized may have functions in ecological interactions plants with other organisms also benefit humanity as pharmaceuticals, fragrances, resins, industrial bioproducts. Examples high-value are taxol forskolin pharmaceuticals or ambroxide fragrances. Yields purity obtained from natural sources by chemical synthesis often insufficient for large-volume...
Sclareol is a diterpene natural product of high value for the fragrance industry. Its labdane carbon skeleton and its two hydroxyl groups also make it valued starting material semisynthesis numerous commercial substances, including production Ambrox® related ambergris substitutes used in formulation end perfumes. Most commercially-produced sclareol derived from cultivated clary sage (Salvia sclarea) extraction plant material. In sage, mainly accumulates essential oil-producing trichomes that...
Abstract Plant‐derived diterpenoids serve as important pharmaceuticals, food additives, and fragrances, yet their low natural abundance high structural complexity limits broader industrial utilization. By mimicking the modularity of diterpene biosynthesis in plants, we constructed 51 functional combinations class I II synthases, 41 which are “new‐to‐nature”. Stereoselective over 50 skeletons was demonstrated, including variants novel enantiomeric or diastereomeric counterparts. Scalable...
Forskolin, a complex labdane diterpenoid found in the root of Coleus forskohlii (Lamiaceae), has received attention for its broad range pharmacological activities, yet biosynthesis not been elucidated. We detected forskolin cork C. specialized cell type containing characteristic structures with histochemical properties consistent oil bodies. Organelle purification and chemical analysis confirmed localization simplest diterpene precursor backbone, (13R) manoyl oxide, to The backbone is...
Terpenoids are a major component of maize (Zea mays) chemical defenses that mediate responses to herbivores, pathogens, and other environmental challenges. Here, we describe the biosynthesis elicited production class diterpenoids, named dolabralexins. Dolabralexin involves sequential activity two diterpene synthases, ENT-COPALYL DIPHOSPHATE SYNTHASE (ZmAN2) KAURENE SYNTHASE-LIKE4 (ZmKSL4). Together, ZmAN2 ZmKSL4 form hydrocarbon dolabradiene. In addition, biochemically characterized...
Patterns of reproductive seasonality in the Carnivora are difficult to study comparatively, due limited numbers species for which information is available. Long-term databases captive populations could overcome this difficulty. We apply a categorical description and quantitative high-resolution measure (birth peak breadth, number days 80% all births occur) based on daily observations captivity characterize degree 114 with average 1357 per species. find that majority retained birth displayed...
Summary Switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum ) is a bioenergy model crop valued for its energy efficiency and drought tolerance. The related monocot species rice Oryza sativa maize Zea mays deploy species‐specific, specialized metabolites as core stress defenses. By contrast, chemical defenses in switchgrass are largely unknown. To investigate metabolic responses switchgrass, we integrated tissue‐specific transcriptome metabolite analyses of the genotypes Alamo Cave‐in‐Rock that feature different...
Summary Flavor is essential to consumer preference of foods and an increasing focus plant breeding programs. In fruit crops, identifying genes underlying volatile organic compounds has great promise accelerate flavor improvement, but polyploidy heterozygosity in many species have slowed progress. Here we use octoploid cultivated strawberry demonstrate how genomic heterozygosity, transcriptomic intricacy metabolomic diversity can be treated as strengths leveraged uncover their regulatory...
Abstract Diterpene resin acids (DRAs) are major components of pine (Pinus spp.) oleoresin. They play critical roles in conifer defense against insects and pathogens as a renewable resource for industrial bioproducts. The core structures DRAs formed secondary (i.e. specialized) metabolism via cycloisomerization geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP) by diterpene synthases (diTPSs). Previously described gymnosperm diTPSs DRA biosynthesis bifunctional enzymes that catalyze the initial bicyclization...
Solanum lycopersicum and habrochaites (f. typicum) accession PI127826 emit a variety of sesquiterpenes. To identify terpene synthases involved in the production these volatile sesquiterpenes, we used massive parallel pyrosequencing (RNA-seq) to obtain transcriptome stem trichomes from plants. This approach resulted initially discovery six sesquiterpene synthase cDNAs S. five habrochaites. Searches other databases genome two additional expressed trichomes. The have high levels protein...
The labdanoid diterpene alcohol cis-abienol is a major component of the aromatic oleoresin balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and serves as valuable bioproduct material for fragrance industry. Using high-throughput 454 transcriptome sequencing metabolite profiling bark tissue, we identified candidate synthase sequences full-length cDNA cloning functional characterization. We discovered bifunctional class I/II (AbCAS), along with paralogous levopimaradiene/abietadiene isopimaradiene synthase, all...
Salvia divinorum commonly known as diviner's sage, is an ethnomedicinal plant of the mint family (Lamiaceae). rich in clerodane-type diterpenoids, which accumulate predominantly leaf glandular trichomes. The main bioactive metabolite, salvinorin A, first non-nitrogenous natural compound to function opioid-receptor agonist, and undergoing clinical trials for potential use treating neuropsychiatric diseases drug addictions. We report here discovery functional characterization two S. diterpene...
Plants deploy both primary and species-specific, specialized metabolites to communicate with other organisms adapt environmental challenges, including interactions soil-dwelling microbial communities. However, the role of in modulating plant-microbiome often remains elusive. In this study, we report that maize (Zea mays) diterpenoid known antifungal bioactivities also influence rhizosphere bacterial Metabolite profiling showed dolabralexins, antibiotic diterpenoids are highly abundant roots...
The challenge of allelic diversity for assembling haplotypes is exemplified in polyploid genomes containing homoeologous chromosomes identical ancestry, and significant homologous variation within their ancestral subgenomes. Cultivated strawberry ( Fragaria × ananassa ) its wild progenitors are outbred octoploids (2n = 8x 56) which up to eight alleles preserved. This introduces risk haplotype collapse, switching, chimeric fusions during assembly. Using third generation HiFi sequences from...
Abstract We describe the crystallization and structure elucidation of Arabidopsis thaliana allene oxide cyclase 2 (AOC2), a key enzyme in biosynthesis jasmonates. In coupled reaction with synthase, AOC2 releases first cyclic biologically active metabolite, 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (OPDA). (AT3G25770) folds into an eight-stranded antiparallel β-barrel C-terminal partial helical extension. The protein forms hydrophobic binding cavity two distinct polar patches. is trimeric crystals, vitro...
The levopimaradiene/abietadiene synthase from Norway spruce (<i>Picea abies</i>; PaLAS) has previously been reported to produce a mixture of four diterpene hydrocarbons when incubated with geranylgeranyl diphosphate as the substrate: levopimaradiene, abietadiene, neoabietadiene, and palustradiene. However, variability in assay products observed by GC-MS this orthologous conifer synthases over past 15 years suggested that these diterpenes may not be initial enzyme but are rather dehydration...