Old substrates for new enzymes of terpenoid biosynthesis

Abstract

Enzymologists have never had it so good. Thanks to advances in gene discovery, driven by high-throughput sequencing of genomes and transcriptomes, and improved heterologous expression of proteins, the functional characterization of new enzymes is generally straightforward: clone the gene, express the protein, assay for activity, and publish the results. However, without knowing the correct substrate to use in the assay such efforts can easily go astray. A paper by Schilmiller et al. (1) published in the latest issue of PNAS shows how one can elegantly avoid this pitfall by integrating genomic, genetic, enzymological, and metabolite-profiling approaches. In this important contribution, the authors report the discovery of a new substrate for enzymes of plant terpenoid biosynthesis.