Multi-omics and functional analyses in Aesculus wilsonii elucidate the biosynthetic pathways of moretane- and oleanane-type triterpenoids.
Zhang Y, Zhao X, Feng S, Cheng Q, Zhao J
Medicinal Plants
PubMedAescin — the active ingredient in horse chestnut creams used for sore legs and bruising — comes from trees like this one, and knowing exactly how the plant builds it could soon let researchers produce it more efficiently or engineer better versions for medicine.
Wilson's horsechestnut makes over 135 different versions of a family of natural compounds that have medicinal uses, but scientists didn't know how the tree built them. By reading the tree's entire genome and studying which genes switch on together, researchers traced the step-by-step chemical assembly lines — like following a recipe — that the tree uses to make each compound. Along the way, they found a previously unknown molecule, named moretenol, and confirmed it by growing the tree's gene in tobacco plants.
Key Findings
Metabolomic profiling identified 135 triterpenoids across 9 structural types, including one completely new scaffold not previously described in science.
Four triterpenoid biosynthetic gene clusters were mapped in the near-complete genome, with two CYP716A enzymes shown to perform distinct chemical reactions on the same starting molecule (β-amyrin).
A newly evolved enzyme (AwOSC13) produces moretenol via a previously unknown biosynthetic pathway, confirmed by successfully recreating the pathway in tobacco plants.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists mapped the genetic blueprints behind how Wilson's horsechestnut tree produces aescin and dozens of other medicinal compounds, discovering a brand-new natural molecule called moretenol along the way.
Abstract Preview
Aesculus wilsonii, a medicinal tree widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, is rich in aescin and other structurally diverse triterpenoids; however, the biosynthetic basis underlying this chem...
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