The P450 multigene family of Fontainea and insights into diterpenoid synthesis.

BACKGROUND: Cytochrome P450s (P450s) are enzymes that play critical roles in the biosynthesis of physiologically important compounds across all organisms. Although they have been characterised in a large number of plant species, no information relating to these enzymes are available from the genus Fontainea (family Euphorbiaceae). Fontainea is significant as the genus includes species that produce medicinally significant epoxy-tigliane natural products, one of which has been approved as an anti-cancer therapeutic. RESULTS: A comparative species leaf metabolome analysis showed that Fontainea species possess a chemical profile different from various other plant species. The diversity and expression profiles of Fontainea P450s were investigated from leaf and root tissue. A total of 103 and 123 full-length P450 genes in Fontainea picrosperma and Fontainea venosa, respectively (and a further 127/125 partial-length) that were phylogenetically classified into clans, families and subfamilies. The majority of P450 identified are most active within root tissue (66.2% F. picrosperma, 65.0% F. venosa). Representatives within the CYP71D and CYP726A were identified in Fontainea that are excellent candidates for diterpenoid synthesis, of which CYP726A1, CYP726A2 and CYP71D1 appear to be exclusive to Fontainea species and were significantly more highly expressed in root tissue compared to leaf tissue. CONCLUSION: This study presents a comprehensive overview of the P450 gene family in Fontainea that may provide important insights into the biosynthesis of the medicinally significant epoxy-tigliane diterpenes found within the genus.

The protein and volatile components of trail mucus in the Common Garden Snail, Cornu aspersum.

The Common or Brown Garden Snail, Cornu aspersum, is an invasive land snail that has successfully colonized a diverse range of global environments. Like other invasive land snails, it is a significant pest of a variety of agricultural crops, including citrus, grapes and canola. Cornu aspersum secretes a mucus trail when mobile that facilitates locomotion. The involvement of the trail in conspecific chemical communication has also been postulated. Our study found that anterior tentacle contact with conspecific mucus elicited a significant increase in heart rate from 46.9 to 51 beats per minute. In order to gain a better understanding of the constituents of the trail mucus and the role it may play in snail communication, the protein and volatile components of mucus trails were investigated. Using two different protein extraction methods, mass spectrometry analysis yielded 175 different proteins, 29 of which had no significant similarity to any entries in the non-redundant protein sequence database. Of the mucus proteins, 22 contain features consistent with secreted proteins, including a perlucin-like protein. The eight most abundant volatiles detected using gas chromatography were recorded (including propanoic acid and limonene) and their potential role as putative pheromones are discussed. In summary, this study has provided an avenue for further research pertaining to the role of trail mucus in snail communication and provides a useful repository for land snail trail mucus components. This may be utilized for further research regarding snail attraction and dispersal, which may be applied in the fields of agriculture, ecology and human health.

Multi-omics investigations within the Phylum Mollusca, Class Gastropoda: from ecological application to breakthrough phylogenomic studies.

Gastropods are the largest and most diverse class of mollusc and include species that are well studied within the areas of taxonomy, aquaculture, biomineralization, ecology, microbiome and health. Gastropod research has been expanding since the mid-2000s, largely due to large-scale data integration from next-generation sequencing and mass spectrometry in which transcripts, proteins and metabolites can be readily explored systematically. Correspondingly, the huge data added a great deal of complexity for data organization, visualization and interpretation. Here, we reviewed the recent advances involving gastropod omics ('gastropodomics') research from hundreds of publications and online genomics databases. By summarizing the current publicly available data, we present an insight for the design of useful data integrating tools and strategies for comparative omics studies in the future. Additionally, we discuss the future of omics applications in aquaculture, natural pharmaceutical biodiscovery and pest management, as well as to monitor the impact of environmental stressors.