A cycloartenol synthase from the steroidal saponin biosynthesis pathway of Paris polyphylla

Abstract

Steroidal saponins named polyphyllin are the major active components of Paris polyphylla. Cycloartenol synthase (CAS) is a key enzyme that catalyzes the formation of the sterol scaffold. In this study, we cloned a putative CAS gene from Paris polyphylla. Heterologous expression in yeast indicated that PpCAS can convert 2,3-oxidosqualene into cycloartenol. qRT-PCR analysis showed that the expression of PpCAS was highest in leaves and lowest in roots. To our best knowledge, this is the first report of the functional characterization of cycloartenol synthase from Paris polyphylla, which lays the foundation for further analysis of the biosynthesis pathway of polyphyllins.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Cycloartenol synthase
• oxidosqualene cyclase
• polyphyllins
• steroidal saponin biosynthesis
• Paris polyphylla

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 81974515; and Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation under Grant 7182018.