Isolation and functional expression of an animal geranyl diphosphate synthase and its role in bark beetle pheromone biosynthesis.

ABSTRACT: Geranyl diphosphate synthase (GPPS) catalyzes the condensation of dimethylallyl diphosphate and isopentenyl diphosphate to form geranyl diphosphate. Geranyl diphosphate is the precursor of monoterpenes, a large family of natural occurring C(10) compounds predominantly found in plants. Similar to plants but unique to animals, some bark beetle genera (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) produce monoterpenes that function in intraspecific chemical communication as aggregation and dispersion pheromones. The release of monoterpene aggregation pheromone mediates host colonization and mating. It has been debated whether these monoterpene pheromone components are derived de novo through the mevalonate pathway or result from simple modifications of dietary precursors. The data reported here provide conclusive

SUBMITTER: Gilg AB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1174994 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature