Tanshinones: Leading the way into Lamiaceae labdane-related diterpenoid biosynthesis

Peters, Reuben; Peters, Reuben J.

Tanshinones: Leading the way into Lamiaceae labdane-related diterpenoid biosynthesis

File

2022-Peters-TanshinonesLeadingManuscript.pdf (693.7 KB)

Date

2022-04

Authors

Peters, Reuben

Peters, Reuben J.

Publisher

Authors

Person

Peters, Reuben

Distinguished Professor

Organizational Units

Organizational Unit

Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology

The Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology was founded to give students an understanding of life principles through the understanding of chemical and physical principles. Among these principles are frontiers of biotechnology such as metabolic networking, the structure of hormones and proteins, genomics, and the like.

History
The Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics was founded in 1959, and was administered by the College of Sciences and Humanities (later, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences). In 1979 it became co-administered by the Department of Agriculture (later, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences). In 1998 its name changed to the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology.

Dates of Existence
1959–present

Historical Names

Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics (1959–1998)

Related Units

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (parent college)
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (parent college)

Department

Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology

Abstract

Tanshinones are the bioactive diterpenoid constituents of the traditional Chinese medicinal herb Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza), and are examples of the phenolic abietanes widely found within the Lamiaceae plant family. Due to the significant interest in these labdane-related diterpenoid natural products, their biosynthesis has been intensively investigated. In addition to providing the basis for metabolic engineering efforts, this work further yielded pioneering insights into labdane-related diterpenoid biosynthesis in the Lamiaceae more broadly. This includes stereochemical foreshadowing of aromatization, with novel protein domain loss in the relevant diterpene synthase, as well as broader phylogenetic conservation of the relevant enzymes. Beyond such summary of more widespread metabolism, formation of the furan ring that characterizes the tanshinones also has been recently elucidated. Nevertheless, the biocatalysts for the pair of demethylations remain unknown, and the intriguing potential connection of these reactions to the further aromatization observed in the tanshinones are speculated upon here.

Comments

This is a manuscript of an article published as Wang, Zhibiao, and Reuben J. Peters. "Tanshinones: Leading the way into Lamiaceae labdane-related diterpenoid biosynthesis." Current Opinion in Plant Biology 66 (2022): 102189. doi:10.1016/j.pbi.2022.102189. Posted with permission. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.