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Characterization of γ‐terpinene synthase from Citrus unshiu (Satsuma mandarin)
Author(s) -
Suzuki Yukiko,
Sakai Hiroshi,
Shimada Takehiko,
Omura Mitsuo,
Kumazawa Shigenori,
Nakayama Tsutomu
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
biofactors
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.204
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1872-8081
pISSN - 0951-6433
DOI - 10.1002/biof.552210115
Subject(s) - monoterpene , citrus unshiu , atp synthase , chemistry , escherichia coli , biochemistry , enzyme , gene , biology , botany
Abstract γ‐Terpinene is a monoterpene and a major component of essential oils made from citrus fruits and shows strong antioxidant activity in various assay systems. Plant γ‐terpinene synthase is a member of the monoterpene cyclase family, which produces a specific monoterpene through cyclization of geranyl diphosphate (GPP), but the monoterpene cyclases have not been fully characterized. It is necessary to prepare large amounts of γ‐terpinene synthase from Citrus unshiu (Satsuma mandarin) for the characterization, on this purpose we expressed the protein in Escherichia coli (E. coli) cells. As most monoterpene synthases have plastid‐targeting signals, a gene lacking these signals was prepared and functionally expressed in E. coli cells harboring extra copies of the argU gene. The purified enzyme was incubated with GPP and the main product was confirmed to beγ‐terpinene by GC/MS.