Artemisia annua mutant impaired in artemisinin synthesis demonstrates importance of nonenzymatic conversion in terpenoid metabolism.

ABSTRACT: Artemisinin, a sesquiterpene lactone produced by Artemisia annua glandular secretory trichomes, is the active ingredient in the most effective treatment for malaria currently available. We identified a mutation that disrupts the amorpha-4,11-diene C-12 oxidase (CYP71AV1) enzyme, responsible for a series of oxidation reactions in the artemisinin biosynthetic pathway. Detailed metabolic studies of cyp71av1-1 revealed that the consequence of blocking the artemisinin biosynthetic pathway is the redirection of sesquiterpene metabolism to a sesquiterpene epoxide, which we designate arteannuin X. This sesquiterpene approaches half the concentration observed for artemisinin in wild-type plants, demonstrating high-flux plasticity in A. annua glandular trichomes and their potential as factories for

SUBMITTER: Czechowski T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5206525 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature