Triterpene esters comprise a class of secondary metabolites that are synthesized by decorating triterpene skeletons with a series of oxidation,glycosylation,and acylation modifications.Many triterpene esters with impo...Triterpene esters comprise a class of secondary metabolites that are synthesized by decorating triterpene skeletons with a series of oxidation,glycosylation,and acylation modifications.Many triterpene esters with important bioactivities have been isolated and identified,including those with applications in the pesticide,pharmaceutical,and cosmetic industries.They also play essential roles in plant defense against pests,dis-eases,physical damage(as part of the cuticle),and regulation of root microorganisms.However,there has been no recent summary of the biosynthetic pathways and biological functions of plant triterpene esters.Here,we classify triterpene esters intofive categories based on their skeletons andfind that C-3 oxidation may have a significant effect on triterpenoid acylation.Fatty acid and aromatic moieties are common li-gands present in triterpene esters.We further analyze triterpene ester synthesis-related acyltransferases(TEsACTs)in the triterpene biosynthetic pathway.Using an evolutionary classification of BAHD acyltrans-ferases(BAHD-ATs)and serine carboxypeptidase-like acyltransferases(SCPL-ATs)in Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa,we classify 18 TEsACTs with identified functions from 11 species.All the triterpene-skel-eton-related TEsACTs belong to BAHD-AT clades IIIa and I,and the only identified TEsACT from the SCPL-AT family belongs to the CP-I subfamily.This comprehensive review of the biosynthetic pathways and bioactivities of triterpene esters provides a foundation for further study of their bioactivities and applica-tions in industry,agricultural production,and human health.展开更多
Dear Editor,Among the large number of Veratrum steroid alkaloids(Zhang et al.,2020),cyclopamine has been shown to have various inhibitory mechanisms against cancer,including inhibition of the hedgehog signaling pathwa...Dear Editor,Among the large number of Veratrum steroid alkaloids(Zhang et al.,2020),cyclopamine has been shown to have various inhibitory mechanisms against cancer,including inhibition of the hedgehog signaling pathway,improvement of tumor tissue microenvironment,inhibition of cell respiration,promotion of cell apoptosis,and reversal of tumor drug resistance(Liu et al.,2023).The biosynthetic pathway of verazine,a possible metabolic precursor of cyclopamine,has been discovered in Veratrum californicum(Augustin et al.,2015).However,the content of Veratrum steroid alkaloids in plants is very low(Supplemental Figure 2),so reliance on direct extraction from plants for commercial production is not feasible.A more effective strategy is to synthesize rare plant secondary metabolites using synthetic biology technology(Liu et al.,2022).展开更多
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFA0915800)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32241040 and 31970314)Key project at central government level:The ability establishment of sustainable use for valuable Chinese medicine resources (2060302)。
文摘Triterpene esters comprise a class of secondary metabolites that are synthesized by decorating triterpene skeletons with a series of oxidation,glycosylation,and acylation modifications.Many triterpene esters with important bioactivities have been isolated and identified,including those with applications in the pesticide,pharmaceutical,and cosmetic industries.They also play essential roles in plant defense against pests,dis-eases,physical damage(as part of the cuticle),and regulation of root microorganisms.However,there has been no recent summary of the biosynthetic pathways and biological functions of plant triterpene esters.Here,we classify triterpene esters intofive categories based on their skeletons andfind that C-3 oxidation may have a significant effect on triterpenoid acylation.Fatty acid and aromatic moieties are common li-gands present in triterpene esters.We further analyze triterpene ester synthesis-related acyltransferases(TEsACTs)in the triterpene biosynthetic pathway.Using an evolutionary classification of BAHD acyltrans-ferases(BAHD-ATs)and serine carboxypeptidase-like acyltransferases(SCPL-ATs)in Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa,we classify 18 TEsACTs with identified functions from 11 species.All the triterpene-skel-eton-related TEsACTs belong to BAHD-AT clades IIIa and I,and the only identified TEsACT from the SCPL-AT family belongs to the CP-I subfamily.This comprehensive review of the biosynthetic pathways and bioactivities of triterpene esters provides a foundation for further study of their bioactivities and applica-tions in industry,agricultural production,and human health.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2023YFA0915800)the Jilin Provincial Agricultural Science&Technology Innovation Project(CXGC202105GH).
文摘Dear Editor,Among the large number of Veratrum steroid alkaloids(Zhang et al.,2020),cyclopamine has been shown to have various inhibitory mechanisms against cancer,including inhibition of the hedgehog signaling pathway,improvement of tumor tissue microenvironment,inhibition of cell respiration,promotion of cell apoptosis,and reversal of tumor drug resistance(Liu et al.,2023).The biosynthetic pathway of verazine,a possible metabolic precursor of cyclopamine,has been discovered in Veratrum californicum(Augustin et al.,2015).However,the content of Veratrum steroid alkaloids in plants is very low(Supplemental Figure 2),so reliance on direct extraction from plants for commercial production is not feasible.A more effective strategy is to synthesize rare plant secondary metabolites using synthetic biology technology(Liu et al.,2022).
