Solving the Jigsaw puzzle of phytosterol diversity by a novel sterol methyltransferase from Zea mays

Qinhua Gan, Haifeng Zheng, Xinyu Li, Jing Li, Jingxue Ma, Yuji Zhang, Jiakun Han, Lin Zhang, Wenxu Zhou, Yandu Lu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Phytosterols are vital structural and regulatory components in plants. Zea mays produces a series of phytosterols that are specific to corn. However, the underline biosynthetic mechanism remains elusive. In this study, we identified a novel sterol methyltransferase from Z. mays (ZmSMT1–2) which showed a unique feature compared with documented plant SMTs. ZmSMT1–2 showed a substrate preference for cycloartenol. Using S-adenosyl-L-methionine (AdoMet) as a donor, ZmSMT1–2 converted cycloartenol into alkylated sterols with unique side-chain architectures, including Δ25(27) (i.e., cyclolaudenol and cycloneolitsol) and Δ24(25) (i.e., cyclobranol) sterols. Cycloneolitsol is identified as a product of SMTs for the first time. Our discovery provides a previously untapped mechanism for phytosterol biosynthesis and adds another layer of diversity of sterol biosynthesis.

Original languageEnglish
Article number106498
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Volume240
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2024

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Solving the Jigsaw puzzle of phytosterol diversity by a novel sterol methyltransferase from Zea mays'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this