Delta-cadinene synthase

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Delta-cadinene synthase, a sesquiterpene cyclase, is an enzyme expressed in plants that catalyzes a cyclization reaction in terpenoid biosynthesis. The enzyme cyclizes farnesyl diphosphate to delta-cadinene and releases pyrophosphate.

Delta-cadinene synthase is one of the key steps in the synthesis of gossypol, a toxic terpenoid produced in cotton seeds. Recently, cotton plants that stably underexpress the enzyme in seeds have been developed using RNA interference techniques, producing a plant that had been proposed as a rich source of dietary protein for developing countries.^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ Sunilkumar G, Campbell L, Puckhaber L, Stipanovic R, Rathore K (2006). "Engineering cottonseed for use in human nutrition by tissue-specific reduction of toxic gossypol". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103 (48): 18054-9. PMID 17110445

[edit] External links

• BRENDA entry
• SwissProt entry