Metabolic engineering of coenzyme Q by modification of isoprenoid side chain in plant

• Published in: FEBS letters Vol. 580; no. 3; pp. 955 - 959
• Main Authors: Takahashi, Sakiko, Ogiyama, Yuki, Kusano, Hiroaki, Shimada, Hiroaki, Kawamukai, Makoto, Kadowaki, Koh-ichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier B.V 06-02-2006
• Subjects: Alkyl and Aryl Transferases - genetics; Alkyl and Aryl Transferases - metabolism; Antioxidants - physiology; Base Sequence; coenzyme Q; Coenzymes; CoQ; CoQ10, ubiquinone; Crops, Agricultural - enzymology; Crops, Agricultural - genetics; DdsA; Decaprenyl diphosphate synthase; Electron Transport - physiology; endoplasmic reticulum; Genetic Engineering - methods; LC/MS; liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry; Metabolic engineering; Mitochondria - enzymology; Mitochondria - genetics; Molecular Sequence Data; Oryza - enzymology; Oryza - genetics; p-hydroxybenzoate polyprenyl transferase; Plants, Genetically Modified; PPT; Rice; Seeds - enzymology; Seeds - genetics; Subcellular localization; Terpenes - metabolism; Ubiquinone - analogs & derivatives; Ubiquinone - biosynthesis; Ubiquinone - genetics; LC/MS; CoQ; PPT; Subcellular localization; Metabolic engineering; CoQ10, ubiquinone; ER; Decaprenyl diphosphate synthase; DdsA; Rice
• ISSN: 0014-5793; 1873-3468
• DOI: 10.1016/j.febslet.2006.01.023

Coenzyme Q (CoQ), an electron transfer molecule in the respiratory chain and a lipid-soluble antioxidant, is present in almost all organisms. Most cereal crops produce CoQ9, which has nine isoprene units. CoQ10, with 10 isoprene units, is a very popular food supplement. Here, we report the genetic engineering of rice to produce CoQ10 using the gene for decaprenyl diphosphate synthase (DdsA). The production of CoQ9 was almost completely replaced with that of CoQ10, despite the presence of endogenous CoQ9 synthesis. DdsA designed to express at the mitochondria increased accumulation of total CoQ amount in seeds.