biologia plantarum

Biologia plantarum 54:725-729, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0129-5

Isolation and functional analysis of cDNAs similar to Hyp-1 involved in hypericin biosynthesis from Hypericum erectum

M. L. Jin¹, J. C. Ahn², B. Hwang¹, H. -S. Park³, H. S. Lee⁴, D. -W. Choi^5,*

¹ Department of Biology, Chonnam National University, Kwangju, Korea

² Department of Bioscience, Seonam University, Namwon, Korea

³ Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Korea

⁴ Biotechnology division, Korea Forest Research Institute, Suwon, Korea

⁵ Department of Biology Education, Chonnam National University, Kwangju, Korea

Hypericin, a naphthodianthrone, has been identified as the principal active compound found in St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum L.). To generate a gene resource for hypericin and other valuable metabolites, we generated expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from H. erectum. Analyses of the ESTs enabled us to select three cDNAs, HeHyp1, HeHyp2, and HeHyp3, evidencing significant sequence homology to Hyp-1 that were involved in hypericin biosynthesis from H. erectum. The deduced amino acid sequence of HeHyp1 cDNA exhibits 95 % identity with Hyp-1. The HeHyp2 and HeHyp3 polypeptides also exhibit 81.1 % identity with Hyp-1. The transcripts of HeHyp1, HeHyp2, and HeHyp3 were detected in the root, stem, leaf, flower, and callus cells. Study using recombinant protein suggests that Hyp-1, HeHyp2, and HeHyp3 may be involved in the biosynthetic of hypericin or other emodin derivatives.

Keywords: amino acid sequence; ESTs; HPLC; RT-PCR; TLC

Subjects: amino acids; amino acid sequences; expressed sequence tag; hypericin; Hypericum erectum; in vitro culture, callus; polymerase chain reaction (PCR); St. John's wort

Received: January 18, 2009; Accepted: August 18, 2009; Published: December 1, 2010  Show citation