Farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FPS) is one of the key rate-limiting enzymes in the sesquiterpene metabolic pathways. In this study, the open reading frame (ORF) of FPS was cloned by PCR based on the transcript sequence of AsFPS1 from the Aquilaria sinensis transcriptome database and sequenced. Total RNA was extracted from the root, stem and leaves of three-year-old A. sinensis, and from healthy and wounded A. sinensis calli, and then reverse-transcribed into single-stranded cDNA as a template for real-time PCR, to detect the expression specificity of AsFPSI in different tissues and its expression profile in responding to different treatments. The result showed that the full length of AsFPS1 was 1 342 bp with the ORF 1 029 bp, encoding 342 amino acids. Tissue expression analysis indicated that AsFPS1 was mainly expressed in root and stem, and was lower in leaves. Inducible-experiments showed that the genes was induced by mechanical wound as well as chemical liquid induction, and reached the highest expression level at 6 h and 12 h, respectively. The full-length cDNA clone of AsFPSI and its expression patterns analysis will provide a foundation for follow-up study on its biological function and agarwood sesquiterpene biosynthesis mechanism.
DNA, Complementary ; genetics ; Geranyltranstransferase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Thymelaeaceae ; enzymology ; genetics ; metabolism

As a secondary metabolite, sesquiterpenes are not only have important functions in plant defense and signaling, but also play potential roles in basic materials for pharmaceuticals, cosmetic and flavor. As a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, Senecio scandens exhibits effects of anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive, as well as invigorating the blood and removing extravasated blood. Over 600 sesquiterpenes with diverse structures were isolated from S. scandens and related species in the same genus. To characterize sesquiterpenes synthesis, two FPS genes(SsFPS1 and SsFPS2) were identified in S. scandens through transcriptomic analysis. Bioinformatic analysis showed that both SsFPSs have conserved motifs for FPS function. Both SsFPSs exhibited constitutive gene expression in S. scandens tissues and SsFPS2 accumulated higher transcript in leaves and roots than SsFPS1. Meanwhile consistent with constitutive sesquiterpene accumulation in S.scandens tissues, most of these sesquiterpenes were detected in leaves and roots more than stems and flowers. Recombinant expression through Escherichia coli metabolic engineering, SsFPS1 or SsFPS2 was co-transformed with ZmTPS11(maize β-macrocarpene synthase) into BL21 competent cells. The results showed that the content of β-macrocarpene was increased by co-transformation with SsFPSs. It is demonstrated that SsFPS1 and SsFPS2 catalyzed E,E-FPP formation and provided FPP precursor for downstream sesquiterpene synthases. Characterization of SsFPSs provided the foundation for the exploration of biosynthesis of sesquiterpenoid with diverse structures and potential pharmaceutical values in S.scandens, and provide an important theoretical basis for the development of S. scandens abundant resources.
Cloning, Molecular ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Geranyltranstransferase ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Senecio/genetics* ; Sesquiterpenes

Farnesyl diphosphate synthase(FPPS) is a key enzyme at the branch point of the sesquiterpene biosynthetic pathway, but there are no reports on the transcriptional regulation of FPPS promoter in Pogostemon cabin. In the early stage of this study, we obtained the binding protein PcFBA-1 of FPPS gene promoter in P. cabin. In order to explore the possible mechanism of PcFBA-1 involved in the regulation of patchouli alcohol biosynthesis, this study performed PCR-based cloning and sequencing analysis of PcFBA-1, analyzed the expression patterns of PcFBA-1 in different tissues by fluorescence quantitative PCR and its subcellular localization using the protoplast transformation system, detected the binding of PcFBA-1 protein to the FPPS promoter in vitro with the yeast one-hybrid system, and verified its transcriptional regulatory function by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. The findings demonstrated that the cloned PcFBA-1 had an open reading frame(ORF) of 1 131 bp, encoding a protein of 376 amino acids, containing two conserved domains named F-box-like superfamily and FBA-1 superfamily, and belonging to the F-box family. Moreover, neither signal peptide nor transmembrane domain was contained, implying that it was an unstable hydrophilic protein. In addition, as revealed by fluorescence quantitative PCR results, PcFBA-1 had the highest expression in leaves, and there was no significant difference in expression in roots or stems. PcFBA-1 protein was proved mainly located in the cytoplasm. Furthermore, yeast one-hybrid screening and dual-luciferase reporter gene assay showed that PcFBA-1 was able to bind to FPPS promoter both in vitro and in vivo to enhance the activity of FPPS promoter. In summary, this study identifies a new transcription factor PcFBA-1 in P. cabin, which directly binds to the FPPS gene promoter to enhance the promoter activity. This had laid a foundation for the biosynthesis of patchouli alcohol and other active ingre-dients and provided a basis for metabolic engineering and genetic improvement of P. cabin.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; Geranyltranstransferase/genetics* ; Pogostemon ; Transcription Factors/genetics*

Monoterpenes are widely used in cosmetics, food, medicine, agriculture and other fields. With the development of synthetic biology, it is considered as a potential way to create microbial cell factories to produce monoterpenes. Engineering Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce monoterpenes has been a research hotspot in synthetic biology. In S. cerevisiae, the production of geranyl pyrophosphate(GPP) and farnesyl pyrophosphate(FPP) is catalyzed by a bifunctional enzyme farnesyl pyrophosphate synthetase(encoded by ERG20 gene) which is inclined to synthesize FPP essential for yeast growth. Therefore, reasonable control of FPP synthesis is the basis for efficient monoterpene synthesis in yeast cell factories. In order to achieve dynamic control from GPP to FPP biosynthesis in S. cerevisiae, we obtained a novel chassis strain HP001-pERG1-ERG20 by replacing the ERG20 promoter of the chassis strain HP001 with the promoter of cyclosqualene cyclase(ERG1) gene. Further, we reconstructed the metabolic pathway by using GPP and neryl diphosphate(NPP), cis-GPP as substrates in HP001-pERG1-ERG20. The yield of GPP-derived linalool increased by 42.5% to 7.6 mg·L~(-1), and that of NPP-derived nerol increased by 1 436.4% to 8.3 mg·L~(-1). This study provides a basis for the production of monoterpenes by microbial fermentation.
Fermentation ; Geranyltranstransferase/genetics* ; Monoterpenes/metabolism* ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolism* ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins/metabolism*

OBJECTIVETo clone farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FPS) gene from Eleutherococcus senticosus and analyze the bioinformatics and expression of the gene.

METHODThe FPS full length cDNA was cloned by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The data was analyzed by bioinformatics method, the structure and function of FPS was deduced. The expression of FPS in different organ of E. senticosus was detected by RT-PCR.

RESULTThe full length of FPS cDNA was 1 499 bp containing a 1 029 bp ORF that encoded 342 amino acids. The deduced protein sequence exhibited two Asp riches conserved motifs (DDXXD). Without transmembrane domain, FPS was located in cytoplasm. RT-PCR result showed that FPS gene expressed in different organs of E. senticosus. The expression amounts of FPS in different organs were different significantly (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe FPS gene of E. senticosus was successfully cloned for the first time, and provided a stable foundation for studying on its effect and expression control on E. senticosus saponins biosynthesis.

Amino Acid Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; Computational Biology ; Conserved Sequence ; Eleutherococcus ; enzymology ; genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Geranyltranstransferase ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Models, Molecular ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Protein Conformation

BACKGROUNDGenetic factors are important in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis, but less is known about the genetic determinants of osteoporosis treatment. We aimed to explore the association between the gene polymorphisms of key enzyme farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FDPS) in mevalonate signaling pathway of osteoclast and response to alendronate therapy in osteoporotic postmenopausal women in China.

METHODSThe study group comprised 639 postmenopausal women aged (62.2 ± 7.0) years with osteoporosis or osteopenia who had been randomly assigned to low dose group (70 mg/2 w) or standard dose group (70 mg/w) of alendronate in this 1-year study. We identified allelic variant of the FDPS gene using the polymerase chain reaction and restriction enzyme Faul. Before and after treatment, serum levels of calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), cross linked C-telopeptide of type I collagen (β-CTX) were detected. Bone mineral density (BMD) at lumbar spine and proximal femur was measured. The association was analyzed between the polymorphisms of FDPS gene and the changes of BMD, bone turnover biomarkers after the treatment.

RESULTSThe FDPS rs2297480 polymorphisms were associated with baseline BMD at femoral neck, and patients with CC genotype had significantly higher baseline femoral neck BMD ((733.6 ± 84.1) mg/cm(2)) than those with AC genotypes ((703.0 ± 86.9) mg/cm(2)) and AA genotypes ((649.8 ± 62.4) mg/cm(2)) (P < 0.01). No significant difference in BMD at lumbar spine was observed among different genotypes of FDPS. The percentage change of serum ALP level was significantly lower in patients with CC genotype (-22.9%) than that in those with AC genotype (-24.1%) and AA genotype (-29.8%) of FDPS after 12 months of alendronate treatment (P < 0.05). Neither percentage change of BMD nor β-CTX level after alendronate treatment had association with FDPS genotype.

CONCLUSIONSFDPS gene was probably a candidate gene to predict femoral neck BMD at baseline. FDPS gene alleles could predict change percentage of ALP after treatment of alendronate, but possibly had no significant relationship with the responsiveness of BMD to alendronate therapy.

Alendronate ; therapeutic use ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Bone Density Conservation Agents ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Geranyltranstransferase ; genetics ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal ; drug therapy ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic

To research the correlation between accumulation of triterpenoids and expression of key enzymes genes in triterpenoid biosynthesis of Alisma orientale,the study utilized UPLC-MS/MS method to detect eight triterpenoids content in the tuber of A. orientale from different growth stages,including alisol A,alisol A 24 acetate,alisol B,alisol B 23 acetate,alisol C 23 acetate,alisol F,alisol F 24 acetate and alisol G,and then the Real time quantitative PCR was used to analyze the expression of key enzymes genes HMGR and FPPS in triterpenoid biosynthesis. Correlation analysis showed that there was a significant positive relation between the total growth of these eight triterpenoids and the average relative expression of HMGR and FPPS(HMGR: r = 0. 998,P<0. 01; FPPS: r = 0. 957,P<0. 05),respectively. Therefore,the study preliminarily determined that HMGR and FPPS genes could regulate the biosynthesis of triterpenoids in A. orientale,which laid a foundation for further research on the biosynthesis and regulation mechanism of triterpenoids in A. orientale.
Alisma ; chemistry ; genetics ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Geranyltranstransferase ; genetics ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA-Reductases, NADP-dependent ; genetics ; Phytochemicals ; analysis ; Plant Extracts ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; Plant Tubers ; chemistry ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; Triterpenes ; analysis

The gene encoding amorpha-4, 11-diene synthase was cloned from Artemisia annua L. Other two genes encoding the FPP synthase (FPPS) and HMG-CoA reductase (HMGR) were cloned from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The cloned cDNAs were confirmed by DNA sequencing. Two expression vectors were constructed, one is named pGBT9/A/HMG/FPP harboring genes for HMG-CoA reductase and FPP synthase and the other is pYeDP60/G/AS, containing the gene encoding amorpha-4,11-diene synthase. Two kinds of engineered yeast were constructed: the first was named WHT [AS], which contained the plasmid pYeDP60/G/AS; the second was WHT [HMG + FPP + AS], in which the vectors pGBT9/A/ HMG/FPP and pYeDP60/G/AS were introduced by cotransformation mediated with LiOAc and PEG4000. The positive clones were identified for further fermentations. The samples from fermentations were analyzed by GC-MS for amorpha-4,11-diene. The results show that engineered yeasts could produce amorpha-4,11-diene. Moreover, the amorpha-4,11-diene production of WHT[ HMG + FPP + AS] and WHT[ AS] were 23.6 mg x L(-1) and 10 microg x L(-1), respectively. Its concentrations were reported as equivalents of valencene. The results showed the copy number increase of HMGR and FPPS genes can improve the production of amorpha-4, 11-diene in the fermentation of engineered yeasts.
Alkyl and Aryl Transferases ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Artemisia annua ; enzymology ; genetics ; Fermentation ; Gene Dosage ; Genes, Plant ; Genetic Engineering ; methods ; Genetic Vectors ; Geranyltranstransferase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; genetics ; metabolism ; Sesquiterpenes ; metabolism

PURPOSE: Genetic factor is an important predisposing element influencing the susceptibility to osteoporosis and related complications. The purpose of the present study is to investigate whether genetic polymorphisms of farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FDPS) or geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase (GGPS) genes were associated with the response to bisphosphonate therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the present study, 144 Korean women with osteoporosis were included. Among 13 genetic polymorphisms found within the FDPS and GGPS1 gene, 4 genetic polymorphisms with frequencies > 5% were selected for further study. Bone mineral density (BMD) response after 1 year treatment of bisphosphonate therapy was analyzed according to the genotypes. RESULTS: Women with 2 deletion allele of GGPS1 -8188A ins/del (rs3840452) had significantly higher femoral neck BMD at baseline compared with those with one or no deletion allele (0.768 +/- 0.127 vs. 0.695 +/- 0.090 respectively; p = 0.041). The response rate of women with 2 deletion allele of GGPS1 -8188A ins/del (28.6%) was significantly lower than the rate of women with one (81.4%) or no deletion allele (75.0%) (p = 0.011). Women with 2 deletion allele of GGPS1 -8188A ins/del had 7-fold higher risk of non-response to bisphosphonate therapy compared with women with other genotypes in GGPS1 -8188 after adjusting for baseline BMD (OR = 7.48; 95% CI = 1.32-42.30; p = 0.023). Other polymorphisms in FDPS or GGPS1 were not associated with lumbar spine BMD or femoral neck BMD. CONCLUSION: Our study suggested that GGPS1 - 8188A ins/del polymorphism may confer susceptibility to femoral neck BMD response to bisphosphonate therapy in Korean women. However, further study should be done to confirm the results in a larger population.
Aged ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Bone Density/*drug effects/*genetics ; Bone Density Conservation Agents/*pharmacology ; Dimethylallyltranstransferase/*genetics ; Diphosphonates/*pharmacology ; Farnesyltranstransferase/*genetics ; Female ; Geranyltranstransferase/*genetics ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Genetic/*genetics

Triterpenes, which have large application potential in the treatment of cancer, are the main active components of genuine medicinal material Alisma orientale (Sam.) Juzep. Farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase (FPPS) is one of the important rate-limiting enzymes in the synthetic pathway of triterpenes. In this study the FPPS full length cDNA of the A. orientale, was cloned via homology-based cloning approach and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The full length of the FPPS cDNA was 1 531 bp (accession no. HQ724508), which contained a full 1 032 bp ORF that encoded 343 amino acids. The deduced protein sequence exhibited five conserved motifs, two of which is riched of Asp (DDXXD). The result of real-time quantitative PCR (QRT-PCR) showed that FPPS gene was expressed in different organs of A. orientale. The expression increased from October to the first ten-day period of December, and then decreased. The FPPS gene expression was higher in leaves but lower in leafstalk, tuber and root. HPLC analysis of active components 23-acetyl-alismol B of A. orientale. during different periods indicated that its change trend should be consistent with FPPS gene expression. It can be primarily deduced that FPPS gene should be an important control point in the synthetic pathway of Alisma terpenes. This study may facilitate the quality of medicinal plants through gene engineering in the future.
Alisma ; enzymology ; genetics ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; Computational Biology ; Conserved Sequence ; DNA, Complementary ; genetics ; DNA, Plant ; genetics ; Gene Amplification ; Geranyltranstransferase ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Plant Leaves ; enzymology ; genetics ; Plant Roots ; enzymology ; genetics ; Plants, Medicinal ; enzymology ; genetics ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods