Recent advances in molecular genetics of furanocoumarin synthesis in higher plants
Abstract
Furanocoumarins are important plant defense compounds, which are mainly found in four higher plant families: Apiaceae, Moraceae, Fabaceae, and Rutaceae. These molecules constitute a subclass of polyphenolic compounds for which the biogenesis in plants has remained elusive until recently at the molecular level. Over the last decade, the first genes and enzymes involved in furanocoumarin synthesis have been described. As regards the linear furanocoumarin bergapten, starting from the precursor molecule p-coumaroyl CoA, we now have three different enzymatic steps (2 cytochrome P450 enzymes and one dioxygenase) out of a total of five that have been unraveled so far. With the exception of one enzyme that was characterized in Rutaceae, all other enzymes have been isolated from Apiaceae plants. The isolation of orthologous genes from other plant families is now under way and will likely reveal whether furanocoumarins appeared in an ancestor phylum or if they emerged independently over different plant taxonomical groups.