Genomic organization of plant terpene synthases and molecular evolutionary implications.

Terpenoids are the largest, most diverse class of plant natural products and they play numerous functional roles in primary metabolism and in ecological interactions. The first committed step in the formation of the various terpenoid classes is the transformation of the prenyl diphosphate precursors, geranyl diphosphate, farnesyl diphosphate, and geranylgeranyl diphosphate, to the parent structures of each type catalyzed by the respective monoterpene (C(10)), sesquiterpene (C(15)), and diterpene synthases (C(20)). Over 30 cDNAs encoding plant terpenoid synthases involved in primary and secondary metabolism have been cloned and characterized. Here we describe the isolation and analysis of six genomic clones encoding terpene synthases of conifers, [(-)-pinene (C(10)), (-)-limonene (C(10)), (E)-alpha-bisabolene (C(15)), delta-selinene (C(15)), and abietadiene synthase (C(20)) from Abies grandis and taxadiene synthase (C(20)) from Taxus brevifolia], all of which are involved in natural products biosynthesis. Genome organization (intron number, size, placement and phase, and exon size) of these gymnosperm terpene synthases was compared to eight previously characterized angiosperm terpene synthase genes and to six putative terpene synthase genomic sequences from Arabidopsis thaliana. Three distinct classes of terpene synthase genes were discerned, from which assumed patterns of sequential intron loss and the loss of an unusual internal sequence element suggest that the ancestral terpenoid synthase gene resembled a contemporary conifer diterpene synthase gene in containing at least 12 introns and 13 exons of conserved size. A model presented for the evolutionary history of plant terpene synthases suggests that this superfamily of genes responsible for natural products biosynthesis derived from terpene synthase genes involved in primary metabolism by duplication and divergence in structural and functional specialization. This novel molecular evolutionary approach focused on genes of secondary metabolism may have broad implications for the origins of natural products and for plant phylogenetics in general.

Characterization of the gene cluster for biosynthesis of macrocyclic trichothecenes in Myrothecium roridum.

Macrocyclic trichothecenes are toxic sesquiterpenoids that are produced by certain fungi and plants. The unique structural features of macrocyclic trichothecenes result in increased toxicity relative to other trichothecene structural types. Here we report the sequences and relative locations of the MRTRI5, MRTRI6, and MRTRI4 genes in the biosynthetic pathway for macrocyclic trichothecenes in Myrothecium roridum. The deduced sequences of the products of MRTRI5 and MRTRI4 display overall identities of 75 and 63%, respectively, with the corresponding proteins in Fusarium sporotrichioides. Based on sequence comparisons, MRTRI5 encodes the enzyme trichodiene synthase, which has been shown to catalyze the first step in the trichothecene pathways of Fusarium and Trichothecium species. MRTRI6 encodes a transcription factor (392 amino acids) required for pathway gene expression, and the predicted MRTRI4 product (533 amino acids) is a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase responsible for the initial oxygenation step in the pathway. The sizes of the predicted products of MRTRI5 and MRTRI4 show good agreement with their apparent counterparts in the Fusarium pathway; however, the protein specified by MRTRI6 is almost twice the size of its putative homolog in F. sporotrichioides. Only the C-terminal 124 residues of MRTRI6, containing the proposed Cys2His2 zinc finger motifs, show significant similarity (65% identity) to the TRI6 sequence in F. sporotrichioides. MRTRI4 can successfully complement a TRI4-mutant in F. sporotrichioides, although the resulting trichothecene profile differed from that observed in wild-type strains. Complemented mutants accumulated low levels of T-2 toxin, in addition to sambucinol, deoxysambucinol, and the pathway intermediates trichothecene and isotrichodiol. Mapping data indicate that the genes of the macrocyclic trichothecene pathway in M. roridum are clustered, but that their organization and orientation differ markedly from those of the trichothecene gene cluster found in F. sporotrichioides. These results show that the biosynthetic pathways for macrocyclic trichothecenes are closely related to other trichothecene pathways and that the evolution of gene clusters for the biosynthesis of natural products in fungi can involve significant rearrangements.