A diterpene synthase from the sandfly Lutzomyia longipalpis produces the pheromone sobralene

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ducker, Charles; Baines, Cameron; Guy, Jennifer; Santana, Antonio Euzebio Goulart; Pickett, John A.; Oldham, Neil J.
• 署名单位: University of Nottingham; Universidade Federal de Alagoas; Cardiff University
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-10942
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2322453121
• 发表日期: 2024-03-15
• 关键词: isoprenyl diphosphate synthases; sex-pheromone; terpene synthases; diptera psychodidae; proposed structure; 9-methylgermacrene-b; lapinha; 3-methyl-alpha-himachalene; homosesquiterpene; identification

摘要

The phlebotomine sandfly, Lutzomyia longipalpis, a major vector of the Leishmania parasite, uses terpene pheromones to attract conspecifics for mating. Examination of the L. longipalpis genome revealed a putative terpene synthase (TPS), which-upon heterologous expression in, and purification from, Escherichia coli-yielded a functional enzyme. The TPS, termed LlTPS, converted geranyl diphosphate (GPP) into a mixture of monoterpenes with low efficiency, of which beta- ocimene was the major product. (E,E)- farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) principally produced small amounts of (E)-beta-farnesene, while (Z,E)- and (Z,Z)-FPP yielded a mixture of bisabolene isomers. None of these mono- and sesquiterpenes are known volatiles of L. longipalpis. Notably, however, when provided with (E,E,E)- geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP), LlTPS gave sobralene as its major product. This diterpene pheromone is released by certain chemotypes of L. longipalpis, in particular those found in the Cear & aacute; state of Brazil. Minor diterpene components were also seen as products of the enzyme that matched those seen in a sandfly pheromone extract.