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Li Y, Wang J, Li L, Song W, Li M, Hua X, Wang Y, Yuan J, Xue Z. Natural products of pentacyclic triterpenoids: from discovery to heterologous biosynthesis. Nat Prod Rep 2023; 40:1303-1353. [PMID: 36454108 DOI: 10.1039/d2np00063f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/17/2023]
Abstract
Covering: up to 2022Pentacyclic triterpenoids are important natural bioactive substances that are widely present in plants and fungi. They have significant medicinal efficacy, play an important role in reducing blood glucose and protecting the liver, and have anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidation, anti-fatigue, anti-viral, and anti-cancer activities. Pentacyclic triterpenoids are derived from the isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway, which generates common precursors of triterpenes and steroids, followed by cyclization with oxidosqualene cyclases (OSCs) and decoration via cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (CYP450s) and glycosyltransferases (GTs). Many biosynthetic pathways of triterpenoid saponins have been elucidated by studying their metabolic regulation network through the use of multiomics and identifying their functional genes. Unfortunately, natural resources of pentacyclic triterpenoids are limited due to their low content in plant tissues and the long growth cycle of plants. Based on the understanding of their biosynthetic pathway and transcriptional regulation, plant bioreactors and microbial cell factories are emerging as alternative means for the synthesis of desired triterpenoid saponins. The rapid development of synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and fermentation technology has broadened channels for the accumulation of pentacyclic triterpenoid saponins. In this review, we summarize the classification, distribution, structural characteristics, and bioactivity of pentacyclic triterpenoids. We further discuss the biosynthetic pathways of pentacyclic triterpenoids and involved transcriptional regulation. Moreover, the recent progress and characteristics of heterologous biosynthesis in plants and microbial cell factories are discussed comparatively. Finally, we propose potential strategies to improve the accumulation of triterpenoid saponins, thereby providing a guide for their future biomanufacturing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanlin Li
- Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Saline-alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, PR China.
- Heilongjiang Key Laboratory of Plant Bioactive Substance Biosynthesis and Utilization, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, PR China
| | - Jing Wang
- Institute of Forestry and Pomology, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, PR China
| | - Linyong Li
- Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Saline-alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, PR China.
- Heilongjiang Key Laboratory of Plant Bioactive Substance Biosynthesis and Utilization, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, PR China
| | - Wenhui Song
- Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Saline-alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, PR China.
- Heilongjiang Key Laboratory of Plant Bioactive Substance Biosynthesis and Utilization, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, PR China
| | - Min Li
- Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Saline-alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, PR China.
- Heilongjiang Key Laboratory of Plant Bioactive Substance Biosynthesis and Utilization, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, PR China
| | - Xin Hua
- Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Saline-alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, PR China.
- Heilongjiang Key Laboratory of Plant Bioactive Substance Biosynthesis and Utilization, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, PR China
| | - Yu Wang
- Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Saline-alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, PR China.
| | - Jifeng Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Fujian, PR China.
| | - Zheyong Xue
- Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Saline-alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, PR China.
- Heilongjiang Key Laboratory of Plant Bioactive Substance Biosynthesis and Utilization, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, PR China
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Jeon MJ, Roy NS, Choi BS, Oh JY, Kim YI, Park HY, Um T, Kim NS, Kim S, Choi IY. Identifying Terpenoid Biosynthesis Genes in Euphorbia maculata via Full-Length cDNA Sequencing. Molecules 2022; 27:molecules27144591. [PMID: 35889464 PMCID: PMC9316252 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27144591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Revised: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 07/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The annual herb Euphorbia maculata L. produces anti-inflammatory and biologically active substances such as triterpenoids, tannins, and polyphenols, and it is used in traditional Chinese medicine. Of these bioactive compounds, terpenoids, also called isoprenoids, are major secondary metabolites in E. maculata. Full-length cDNA sequencing was carried out to characterize the transcripts of terpenoid biosynthesis reference genes and determine the copy numbers of their isoforms using PacBio SMRT sequencing technology. The Illumina short-read sequencing platform was also employed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the secondary metabolite pathways from leaves, roots, and stems. PacBio generated 62 million polymerase reads, resulting in 81,433 high-quality reads. From these high-quality reads, we reconstructed a genome of 20,722 genes, in which 20,246 genes (97.8%) did not have paralogs. About 33% of the identified genes had two or more isoforms. DEG analysis revealed that the expression level differed among gene paralogs in the leaf, stem, and root. Whole sets of paralogs and isoforms were identified in the mevalonic acid (MVA), methylerythritol phosphate (MEP), and terpenoid biosynthesis pathways in the E. maculata L. The nucleotide information will be useful for identifying orthologous genes in other terpenoid-producing medicinal plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mi Jin Jeon
- Microorganism Resources Division, National Institute of Biological Resources, Incheon 22689, Korea; (M.J.J.); (J.Y.O.)
| | - Neha Samir Roy
- Agriculture and Life Sciences Research Institute, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea; (N.S.R.); (T.U.)
| | | | - Ji Yeon Oh
- Microorganism Resources Division, National Institute of Biological Resources, Incheon 22689, Korea; (M.J.J.); (J.Y.O.)
| | - Yong-In Kim
- On Biological Resource Research Institute, Chuncheon 24239, Korea;
| | - Hye Yoon Park
- Biological Resources Assessment Division, National Institute of Biological Resources, Incheon 22689, Korea;
| | - Taeyoung Um
- Agriculture and Life Sciences Research Institute, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea; (N.S.R.); (T.U.)
| | - Nam-Soo Kim
- BIT Institute, NBIT Co., Ltd., Chuncheon 24341, Korea;
- Correspondence: (N.-S.K.); (S.K.); (I.-Y.C.); Tel.: +82-10-5522-6472 (N.-S.K.); +82-32-590-7110 (S.K.); +82-33-250-7768 (I.-Y.C.)
| | - Soonok Kim
- Microorganism Resources Division, National Institute of Biological Resources, Incheon 22689, Korea; (M.J.J.); (J.Y.O.)
- Correspondence: (N.-S.K.); (S.K.); (I.-Y.C.); Tel.: +82-10-5522-6472 (N.-S.K.); +82-32-590-7110 (S.K.); +82-33-250-7768 (I.-Y.C.)
| | - Ik-Young Choi
- Agriculture and Life Sciences Research Institute, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea; (N.S.R.); (T.U.)
- BIT Institute, NBIT Co., Ltd., Chuncheon 24341, Korea;
- Department of Agriculture and Life Industry, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea
- Correspondence: (N.-S.K.); (S.K.); (I.-Y.C.); Tel.: +82-10-5522-6472 (N.-S.K.); +82-32-590-7110 (S.K.); +82-33-250-7768 (I.-Y.C.)
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Alves ALV, da Silva LS, Faleiros CA, Silva VAO, Reis RM. The Role of Ingenane Diterpenes in Cancer Therapy: From Bioactive Secondary Compounds to Small Molecules. Nat Prod Commun 2022. [DOI: 10.1177/1934578x221105691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Diterpenes are a class of critical taxonomic markers of the Euphorbiaceae family, representing small compounds (eg, molecules) with a wide range of biological activities and multi-target therapeutic potential. Diterpenes can exert different activities, including antitumor and multi-drug resistance-reversing activities, and antiviral, immunomodulatory, and anti-inflammatory effects, mainly due to their great structural diversity. In particular, one polycyclic skeleton has been highlighted: ingenane. Besides this natural diterpene, promising polycyclic skeletons may be submitted to chemical modification—by in silico approaches, chemical reactions, or biotransformation—putatively providing more active analogs (eg, ingenol derivatives), which are currently under pre-clinical investigation. This review outlines the current mechanisms of action and potential therapeutic implications of ingenol diterpenes as small cancer molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Laura V. Alves
- Molecular Oncology Research Center, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, Brazil
| | - Luciane S. da Silva
- Molecular Oncology Research Center, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, Brazil
| | - Camila A. Faleiros
- Molecular Oncology Research Center, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, Brazil
| | - Viviane A. O. Silva
- Molecular Oncology Research Center, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, Brazil
| | - Rui M. Reis
- Molecular Oncology Research Center, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, Brazil
- Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
- ICVS/3B’s - PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga, Portugal
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Liu X, Gong X, Liu Y, Liu J, Zhang H, Qiao S, Li G, Tang M. Application of High-Throughput Sequencing on the Chinese Herbal Medicine for the Data-Mining of the Bioactive Compounds. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:900035. [PMID: 35909744 PMCID: PMC9331165 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.900035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
The Chinese Herbal Medicine (CHM) has been used worldwide in clinic to treat the vast majority of human diseases, and the healing effect is remarkable. However, the functional components and the corresponding pharmacological mechanism of the herbs are unclear. As one of the main means, the high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies have been employed to discover and parse the active ingredients of CHM. Moreover, a tremendous amount of effort is made to uncover the pharmacodynamic genes associated with the synthesis of active substances. Here, based on the genome-assembly and the downstream bioinformatics analysis, we present a comprehensive summary of the application of HTS on CHM for the synthesis pathways of active ingredients from two aspects: active ingredient properties and disease classification, which are important for pharmacological, herb molecular breeding, and synthetic biology studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyan Liu
- School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Xun Gong
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Yi Liu
- School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
- Institute of Animal Husbandry, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Junlin Liu
- School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Hantao Zhang
- School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Sen Qiao
- School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Gang Li
- Department of Vascular Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Taian, China
- Gang Li,
| | - Min Tang
- School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
- *Correspondence: Min Tang,
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Qiao W, Feng W, Yang L, Li C, Qu X, Zhang Y. De Novo Biosynthesis of the Anticancer Compound Euphol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. ACS Synth Biol 2021; 10:2351-2358. [PMID: 34445867 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Euphol is a euphane-type tetracyclic triterpene which is primarily found in the Euphorbia genus. Euphol has been renowned because of its great potential as a promising anticancer drug. Surprisingly, despite its diverse antitumor effects, the respective gene for euphol biosynthesis had not been identified until this study. In our experiments with Euphorbia tirucalli, euphol was detected predominantly in latex, the element that is often used for cancer treatments in Brazil. Two latex-specifically expressed oxidosqualene cyclases (OSCs) from E. tirucalli, designated as EtOSC5 and EtOSC6, were functionally characterized by expression in a lanosterol synthase knockout yeast strain GIL77. EtOSC5 produces euphol and its 20S-isomer tirucallol as two of the major products, while EtOSC6 produces taraxasterol and β-amyrin as the major products. These four compounds were also detected as the major triterpenes in the E. tirucalli latex, suggesting that EtOSC5 and EtOSC6 are the primary catalysts for the formation of E. tirucalli latex triterpene alcohols. Based on a model structure of EtOSC5 followed with site-mutagenesis experiments, the mechanism for the EtOSC5 activity was proposed. By applying state-of-the-art engineering techniques, the expression of EtOSC5 together with three other known precursor genes were chromosomally integrated into Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The resulting engineered yeast strain YS5E-1 produced 1.84 ± 0.17 mg/L of euphol in shake flasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weibo Qiao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Wei Feng
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Bio-Energy Crops, Research Center for Natural Products, Plant Science Center, School of Life Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, China
| | - Lu Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China
| | - Changfu Li
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Bio-Energy Crops, Research Center for Natural Products, Plant Science Center, School of Life Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, China
- CAS Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Xudong Qu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China
| | - Yansheng Zhang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Bio-Energy Crops, Research Center for Natural Products, Plant Science Center, School of Life Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, China
- CAS Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China
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Vilperte V, Lucaciu CR, Halbwirth H, Boehm R, Rattei T, Debener T. Hybrid de novo transcriptome assembly of poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. Ex Klotsch) bracts. BMC Genomics 2019; 20:900. [PMID: 31775622 PMCID: PMC6882326 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-019-6247-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2019] [Accepted: 10/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Poinsettia is a popular and important ornamental crop, mostly during the Christmas season. Its bract coloration ranges from pink/red to creamy/white shades. Despite its ornamental value, there is a lack of knowledge about the genetics and molecular biology of poinsettia, especially on the mechanisms of color formation. We performed an RNA-Seq analysis in order to shed light on the transcriptome of poinsettia bracts. Moreover, we analyzed the transcriptome differences of red- and white-bracted poinsettia varieties during bract development and coloration. For the assembly of a bract transcriptome, two paired-end cDNA libraries from a red and white poinsettia pair were sequenced with the Illumina technology, and one library from a red-bracted variety was used for PacBio sequencing. Both short and long reads were assembled using a hybrid de novo strategy. Samples of red- and white-bracted poinsettias were sequenced and comparatively analyzed in three color developmental stages in order to understand the mechanisms of color formation and accumulation in the species. RESULTS The final transcriptome contains 288,524 contigs, with 33% showing confident protein annotation against the TAIR10 database. The BUSCO pipeline, which is based on near-universal orthologous gene groups, was applied to assess the transcriptome completeness. From a total of 1440 BUSCO groups searched, 77% were categorized as complete (41% as single-copy and 36% as duplicated), 10% as fragmented and 13% as missing BUSCOs. The gene expression comparison between red and white varieties of poinsettia showed a differential regulation of the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway only at particular stages of bract development. An initial impairment of the flavonoid pathway early in the color accumulation process for the white poinsettia variety was observed, but these differences were no longer present in the subsequent stages of bract development. Nonetheless, GSTF11 and UGT79B10 showed a lower expression in the last stage of bract development for the white variety and, therefore, are potential candidates for further studies on poinsettia coloration. CONCLUSIONS In summary, this transcriptome analysis provides a valuable foundation for further studies on poinsettia, such as plant breeding and genetics, and highlights crucial information on the molecular mechanism of color formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinicius Vilperte
- Institute of Plant Genetics, Leibniz Universität Hannover, 30419, Hannover, Germany.,Klemm + Sohn GmbH & Co., 70379, Stuttgart, KG, Germany
| | - Calin Rares Lucaciu
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, 1090, Vienna, Austria
| | - Heidi Halbwirth
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, Technische Universität Wien, 1060, Vienna, Austria
| | - Robert Boehm
- Klemm + Sohn GmbH & Co., 70379, Stuttgart, KG, Germany
| | - Thomas Rattei
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Thomas Debener
- Institute of Plant Genetics, Leibniz Universität Hannover, 30419, Hannover, Germany.
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