Cloning and functional characterization of a monoterpene synthase gene from Eleutherococcus trifoliatus

Abstract

AbstractEleutherococcus trifoliatusalso known as the three-leavedEleutherococcus, a member of the Araliaceae (ginseng) family, is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. Recently, many studies have demonstrated the bioactivities of the secondary metabolites inE. trifoliatus. In this study, a monoterpene synthase fromE. trifoliatushas been characterized. A pair of degenerate primers was designed and a fragment with conserved region of terpene synthase (TPS) was obtained. After 5′- and 3′-rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE), the full-length cDNA was obtained. The gene designatedEtLIMcontains an open reading frame of 1752 bp with a predicated molecular mass of 67.3 kDa. It was expressed in young leaves, stems, and drupes. The product ofEtLIMhas been identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) as limonene.