Cloning and Characterization of Mevalonate Pathway Genes in a Natural Rubber Producing Plant,Hevea brasiliensis

The rubber tree genome reveals new insights into rubber production and species adaptation

“…3a and Supplementary Table 18). In contrast, at least one gene for each MVA pathway enzyme shows latex-biased abundant expression, supporting the proposition that it is the MVA rather than the MEP pathway that is involved in rubber biosynthesis 22,23 . Three gene families, REF/SRPP, CPT (cis-prenyltransferase) and DXS, have more than ten genes.…”

Cloning and Characterization of the 2-C-Methyl-D-erythritol 4-Phosphate (MEP) Pathway Genes of a Natural-Rubber Producing Plant,Hevea brasiliensis

“…5,6) We recently isolated the mevalonate pathway genes by analyzing the EST information of latex and xylem cDNA libraries in H. brasiliensis, and observed high expression of the mevalonate pathway genes in latex as compared with other types of tissue. 7) On the other hand, Chow et al conducted large-scale transcriptome analyses of the latex of H. brasiliensis and observed high expression of the DXS gene in the latex. Based on this observation, they suggested that the MEP pathway might be also involved in natural rubber biosynthesis, 8) but the full extent of the MEP pathway of H. brasiliensis has yet to be discovered, and its involvement in rubber synthesis has not been confirmed.…”

Genomics of Hevea Rubber

“…Biosynthesis of natural rubber is known to take place biochemically by a mevalonate pathway including six steps catalyzed by corresponding enzymes (Sando et al 2008 ) . A key enzyme involved in rubber biosynthesis is HMG-CoA synthase, which catalyzes the condensation of acetyl-CoA with acetoacetyl-CoA to form HMG-CoA (Suwanmanee et al 2002(Suwanmanee et al , 2004Sirinupong et al 2005 ) .…”

“…Predominance of the transcripts of Hevea cis -prenyltransferase was detected in latex as compared with other Hevea tissues examined. Sando et al ( 2008 ) isolated full-length cDNA of genes encoding enzymes catalyzing the six steps of MVA pathway. They characterized three acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase genes, two HMG-CoA synthase genes, and four HMG-CoA reductase genes and one each of mevalonate kinase ( MVK ), phosphomevalonate kinase ( PMK ), and mevalonate diphosphate decarboxylase ( MVD ), which were highly expressed in latex.…”

“…They characterized three acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase genes, two HMG-CoA synthase genes, and four HMG-CoA reductase genes and one each of mevalonate kinase ( MVK ), phosphomevalonate kinase ( PMK ), and mevalonate diphosphate decarboxylase ( MVD ), which were highly expressed in latex. According to Sando et al ( 2008 ) , MVK and PMK were found to be involved in other isoprenoid biosynthesis in addition to MVA pathway, as their expression level was found to be the same in both laticifers and xylem (which contains no rubber). Venkatachalam et al .…”