Oxidation and cyclization of casbene in the biosynthesis of Euphorbia factors from mature seeds of Euphorbia lathyris L.

ABSTRACT: The seed oil of Euphorbia lathyris L. contains a series of macrocyclic diterpenoids known as Euphorbia factors. They are the current industrial source of ingenol mebutate, which is approved for the treatment of actinic keratosis, a precancerous skin condition. Here, we report an alcohol dehydrogenase-mediated cyclization step in the biosynthetic pathway of Euphorbia factors, illustrating the origin of the intramolecular carbon-carbon bonds present in lathyrane and ingenane diterpenoids. This unconventional cyclization describes the ring closure of the macrocyclic diterpene casbene. Through transcriptomic analysis of E. lathyris L. mature seeds and in planta functional characterization, we identified three enzymes involved in the cyclization route from casbene to jolkinol C, a lathyrane dit

SUBMITTER: Luo D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5003294 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature