| Title: | Biosynthesis of iridoid sex pheromones in aphids |
| Author(s): | Kollner TG; David A; Luck K; Beran F; Kunert G; Zhou JJ; Caputi L; O'Connor SE; |
| Address: | "Department of Natural Product Biosynthesis, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, 07745 Jena, Germany. Department of Insect Symbiosis, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, 07745 Jena, Germany. Department of Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, 07745 Jena, Germany. State Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025 China" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1091-6490 (Electronic) 0027-8424 (Print) 0027-8424 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Iridoid monoterpenes, widely distributed in plants and insects, have many ecological functions. While the biosynthesis of iridoids has been extensively studied in plants, little is known about how insects synthesize these natural products. Here, we elucidated the biosynthesis of the iridoids cis-trans-nepetalactol and cis-trans-nepetalactone in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris), where they act as sex pheromones. The exclusive production of iridoids in hind legs of sexual female aphids allowed us to identify iridoid genes by searching for genes specifically expressed in this tissue. Biochemical characterization of candidate enzymes revealed that the iridoid pathway in aphids proceeds through the same sequence of intermediates as described for plants. The six identified aphid enzymes are unrelated to their counterparts in plants, conclusively demonstrating an independent evolution of the entire iridoid pathway in plants and insects. In contrast to the plant pathway, at least three of the aphid iridoid enzymes are likely membrane bound. We demonstrated that a lipid environment facilitates the cyclization of a reactive enol intermediate to the iridoid cyclopentanoid-pyran scaffold in vitro, suggesting that membranes are an essential component of the aphid iridoid pathway. Altogether, our discovery of this complex insect metabolic pathway establishes the genetic and biochemical basis for the formation of iridoid sex pheromones in aphids, and this discovery also serves as a foundation for understanding the convergent evolution of complex metabolic pathways between kingdoms" |
| Keywords: | Animals *Aphids/genetics/metabolism *Biological Products/metabolism Iridoids/chemistry/metabolism Lipids Monoterpenes/metabolism Pheromones/metabolism Plants/metabolism *Sex Attractants/genetics/metabolism aphids biosynthesis iridoids pathway sex pheromon; |
| Notes: | "MedlineKollner, Tobias G David, Anja Luck, Katrin Beran, Franziska Kunert, Grit Zhou, Jing-Jiang Caputi, Lorenzo O'Connor, Sarah E eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2022/10/14 Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Oct 18; 119(42):e2211254119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2211254119. Epub 2022 Oct 13" |
