Rapid discovery and functional characterization of diterpene synthases from basidiomycete fungi by genome mining

Abstract

Basidiomycete fungi are a rich source of bioactive diterpenoid secondary metabolites. However, compared with the large number of diterpene synthases (di-TPSs) identified in plants and ascomycete fungi, only three di-TPSs have been described from basidiomycete fungi. Large scale genome sequencing projects combined with the development of synthetic biology techniques now has enabled the rapidly discovery and characterization of di-TPSs from basidiomycete fungi. In this study, we discovered and functionally characterized four di-TPSs from 220 genome sequenced basidiomycete fungi by a combined strategy of genomic data mining, phylogenetic analysis and fast products characterization with synthetic biology techniques. Among them, SteTC1 of Stereum histurum was characterized as the first fungal cembrane diterpene synthase; PunTC of Punctularia strigosozonata and SerTC of Serpula lacrymans were characterized as ent-kauran-16α-ol synthase and DenTC3 of Dentipellis sp was characterized as a cyathane synthase. Our results provide opportunities for the discovery of new diterpenoids from basidiomycete fungi by genome mining.