Abstract
Farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FPPS) is a key isoprenyl diphosphate synthase (IDS), which provides synthetic precursors to the terpenoid metabolic pathway. We isolated and characterized a Pinus massoniana FPPS (PmFPPS) gene which encodes a putative farnesyl diphosphate synthase from P. massoniana Lamb. In silico domain analysis revealed that PmFPPS contained all five conserved IDS domains and was homologous to FPPSs from other plant species. An in vitro enzymatic activity assay resulted in an optimum pH, temperature, and Mg2+ concentration of 7.0–7.5, 25 °C, and 1.2 mM, respectively. To identify the function of PmFPPS in vivo, sense and antisense expression vectors were constructed and transformed into tobacco using a constitutive cauliflower mosaic virus-35S promoter. The overexpression of PmFPPS in transgenic plants had higher squalene contents than the control, and the downregulated transgenic plants had lower squalene contents than the control. These results indicate that PmFPPS performs a regulatory role in triterpene biosynthesis.
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Abbreviations
- FPP:
-
Farnesyl diphosphate
- FPPS:
-
Farnesyl diphosphate synthase
- IDS:
-
Isoprenyl diphosphate synthase
- MVA:
-
Mevalonic acid
- MEP:
-
C-methyl-d-erythritol alcohol 4-phosphate
- IPP:
-
Isopentenyl pyrophosphate
- DMAPP:
-
Dimethylallyl pyrophosphate phosphoric acid
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Prof. Zhangqi Yang from Institute of Guangxi Academy of Forestry Sciences for provided the P. massoniana needles. Authors Qi QI and Ran LI are equal contribution to this work.
Funding
This work was financially supported by the Beijing Higher Education Young Elite Teacher Project (YETP0755), High Technology Research and Development 863 Program (2011AA100203) and grants ITR 13047.
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Qi Qi and Ran Li are equal contribution to this work.
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Qi, Q., Li, R., Gai, Y. et al. Cloning and functional identification of farnesyl diphosphate synthase from Pinus massoniana Lamb. J. Plant Biochem. Biotechnol. 26, 132–140 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13562-016-0373-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13562-016-0373-7