Plant and Cell Physiology, 1995, Vol. 36, No. 1 29-36
© 1995
Molecular Cloning and Characterization of S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine:Scoulerine-9-O-Methyltransferase from Cultured Cells of Coptis japonica
Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyoto University Sakyo, Kyoto, 606-01 Japan
4To whom correspondence should be addressed.
S-Adenosyl-L-methionine : scoulerine-9-O-methyltransferase (SMT) catalyzes the transfer of the S-methyl group of S-adenosyl-L-methionine to the 9-hydroxyl group of scoulerine during the biosynthesis of berberine. We have isolated functionally active cDNA clones (pCJSMTs) from a cDNA library prepared from cultured cells of Coptis japonica. The longest cDNA insert (pCJSMT1) had an open reading frame that encoded 351 amino acids, but the calculated molecular mass (38,364 Da) of the deduced product was slightly lower than the experimentally determined molecular mass of purified SMT. Rapid amplification of the 5' end of the cDNA indicated that the full-length cDNA of SMT consisted of 1,458 nucleotides that encoded 381 amino acids. When the full-length cDNA was expressed in E. coli, the molecular mass of the expressed SMT was greater than that of native SMT in Coptis cells. This result suggests that SMT might be produced in a pre-mature form and processed post-translationally. SMT was also found to exhibit sequence homology to other O-methyltransferases from plants and N-terminal region of the SMT polypeptide appeared to be necessary for enzymatic activity.
1Present address: High Quality Life Research Laboratories, Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd., 3-5 Hikaridai, Seika, Sourakugun, Kyoto, 619-02 Japan
2Present address: Suntory Research Center, 1-1-1 Wakayamadai, Shimamoto, Mishima-gun, Osaka, 618 Japan
3Present address: Department of Cell Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037 U.S.A.
(Received April 25, 1994; Accepted October 8, 1994)
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  N. Ikezawa, K. Iwasa, and F. Sato Molecular Cloning and Characterization of CYP80G2, a Cytochrome P450 That Catalyzes an Intramolecular C-C Phenol Coupling of (S)-Reticuline in Magnoflorine Biosynthesis, from Cultured Coptis japonica Cells J. Biol. Chem., April 4, 2008; 283(14): 8810 - 8821. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. K. Liscombe and P. J. Facchini Molecular Cloning and Characterization of Tetrahydroprotoberberine cis-N-Methyltransferase, an Enzyme Involved in Alkaloid Biosynthesis in Opium Poppy J. Biol. Chem., May 18, 2007; 282(20): 14741 - 14751. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. Inui, K.-i. Tamura, N. Fujii, T. Morishige, and F. Sato Overexpression of Coptis japonica Norcoclaurine 6-O-Methyltransferase Overcomes the Rate-Limiting Step in Benzylisoquinoline Alkaloid Biosynthesis in Cultured Eschscholzia californica Plant Cell Physiol., February 1, 2007; 48(2): 252 - 262. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
N. Kato, E. Dubouzet, Y. Kokabu, S. Yoshida, Y. Taniguchi, J. G. Dubouzet, K. Yazaki, and F. Sato Identification of a WRKY Protein as a Transcriptional Regulator of Benzylisoquinoline Alkaloid Biosynthesis in Coptis japonica Plant Cell Physiol., January 1, 2007; 48(1): 8 - 18. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 N. Samanani, S.-U. Park, and P. J. Facchini Cell Type-Specific Localization of Transcripts Encoding Nine Consecutive Enzymes Involved in Protoberberine Alkaloid Biosynthesis PLANT CELL, March 1, 2005; 17(3): 915 - 926. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. Raes, A. Rohde, J. H. Christensen, Y. Van de Peer, and W. Boerjan Genome-Wide Characterization of the Lignification Toolbox in Arabidopsis Plant Physiology, November 1, 2003; 133(3): 1051 - 1071. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
N. Ikezawa, M. Tanaka, M. Nagayoshi, R. Shinkyo, T. Sakaki, K. Inouye, and F. Sato Molecular Cloning and Characterization of CYP719, a Methylenedioxy Bridge-forming Enzyme That Belongs to a Novel P450 Family, from cultured Coptis japonica Cells J. Biol. Chem., October 3, 2003; 278(40): 38557 - 38565. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K. Sakai, N. Shitan, F. Sato, K. Ueda, and K. Yazaki Characterization of berberine transport into Coptis japonica cells and the involvement of ABC protein J. Exp. Bot., September 1, 2002; 53(376): 1879 - 1886. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
K.-B. Choi, T. Morishige, N. Shitan, K. Yazaki, and F. Sato Molecular Cloning and Characterization of Coclaurine N-Methyltransferase from Cultured Cells of Coptis japonica J. Biol. Chem., January 4, 2002; 277(1): 830 - 835. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
|
|
T. Morishige, T. Tsujita, Y. Yamada, and F. Sato Molecular Characterization of the S-Adenosyl-L-methionine:3'-Hydroxy-N-methylcoclaurine 4'-O-Methyltransferase Involved in Isoquinoline Alkaloid Biosynthesis in Coptis japonica J. Biol. Chem., July 21, 2000; 275(30): 23398 - 23405. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 F. Sato, T. Hashimoto, A. Hachiya, K.-i. Tamura, K.-B. Choi, T. Morishige, H. Fujimoto, and Y. Yamada Inaugural Article: Metabolic engineering of plant alkaloid biosynthesis PNAS, January 2, 2001; 98(1): 367 - 372. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|