Cytochrome P-450-dependent hydroxylases are typical enzymes for the modification of basic flavonoid skeletons. We show in this study that CYP71D9 cDNA, previously isolated from elicitor-induced soybean (Glycine max L.) cells, codes for a protein with a novel hydroxylase activity. When heterologously expressed in yeast, this protein bound various flavonoids with high affinity (1.6 to 52 M) and showed typical type I absorption spectra. These flavonoids were hydroxylated at position 6 of both resorcinol-and phloroglucinol-based A-rings. Flavonoid 6-hydroxylase (CYP71D9) catalyzed the conversion of flavanones more efficiently than flavones. Isoflavones were hardly hydroxylated. As soybean produces isoflavonoid constituents possessing 6,7-dihydroxy substitution patterns on ring A, the biosynthetic relationship of flavonoid 6-hydroxylase to isoflavonoid biosynthesis was investigated. Recombinant 2-hydroxyisoflavanone synthase (CYP93C1v2) efficiently used 6,7,4-trihydroxyflavanone as substrate. For its structural identification, the chemically labile reaction product was converted to 6,7,4-trihydroxyisoflavone by acid treatment. The structures of the final reaction products for both enzymes were confirmed by NMR and mass spectrometry. Our results strongly support the conclusion that, in soybean, the 6-hydroxylation of the A-ring occurs before the 1,2-aryl migration of the flavonoid B-ring during isoflavanone formation. This is the first identification of a flavonoid 6-hydroxylase cDNA from any plant species.Flavonoids are a diverse group of natural products that serve important roles in plants during growth, during development, and in defense against microorganisms and pests (1, 2). These compounds are synthesized from phenylpropanoid-and acetate-derived precursors through central pathways furnishing basic C 6 -C 3 -C 6 flavonoid skeletons and, in addition, through a variety of reactions leading to a range of modified aglycones and subsequently to their glycosylated derivatives within each flavonoid class. Many of the enzymes of flavonoid biosynthesis have been extensively studied (3), and recent molecular biological approaches have complemented biochemical methods in elucidating the mechanism and regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis (4). Typical enzymes belonging to the complex branch pathways for the elaboration of flavonoid skeletons are cytochrome P-450-dependent hydroxylases (3), such as flavonoid 3Ј-hydroxylase (5), flavonoid 3Ј,5Ј-hydroxylase (6), isoflavone 2Ј-hydroxylase (7), flavanone 2-hydroxylase (8), flavone synthase II (9, 10), and 2-hydroxyisoflavanone synthase (2HIS) 1 (11-13). Whereas flavonoid 3Ј-hydroxylase and flavonoid 3Ј,5Ј-hydroxylase are responsible for the formation of the 3Ј,5Ј-hydroxylation pattern of the flavonoid B-ring, hydroxylation of the isoflavone B-ring at the 2Ј position (isoflavone 2Ј-hydroxylase) is one of the key reactions leading to pterocarpan structures. The formation of flavones and isoflavones from flavanones is catalyzed by several evolutionarily related P-450s, either in a ...