Enhancing health-promoting properties of plants by engineering specialized metabolism

O. AGATHA, I. Julca, D. M. Anderwald, P. K. Lim, M. Mutwil

School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Dr, Singapore 637551

Terpenoids are a diverse group of secondary metabolites that possess valuable therapeutic properties, including anti-inflammatory, anti-tumour, and antibiotic effects. The key obstacles associated with utilizing terpenoids as drugs include the time-consuming and expensive process of isolating terpenoids from natural sources, the difficulty of completely synthesizing the compounds chemically in a laboratory, and the limited availability of terpenoids for research and development. Hence, it is crucial to understand their biosynthetic pathway to mass-produce these compounds. However, it is challenging to identify the enzymes involved in their biosynthesis. This project aims to elucidate the biosynthesis pathway of a specific class of terpenoids, called sesquiterpenes, by utilizing gene expression, co-expression, and phylogeny analyses to predict the potential enzymes involved in the biosynthesis pathway. Through these analyses, a few candidate genes have been successfully predicted and would eventually be validated through expressions of the enzymes in yeasts, therefore eventually enabling the mass production of these valuable compounds, leading to a cost-effective and sustainable source of therapeutic agents.