<i>In</i><i>silico</i> assisted identification of peppery aroma compound ‘rotundone’ backbone genes from black pepper

Rotundone, an oxygenated sesquiterpene compound, responsible for the peppery aroma. The importance of the rotundone in the flavor industry warrants search for the precursor genes in plants. We report in this study, the first on the identification of rotundone backbone genes viz., α-guaiene synthase & α-guaiene oxidase in black pepper. We identified the precursor genes of rotundone using berry transcriptome profiling. The metabolite profiling using head space mass spectrometry showed the presence of the direct precursor compounds for rotundone biosynthesis in black pepper berries. The identification of the genes & compounds of the guaiene skeleton is expected to help in bioprospecting of black pepper varieties & also in recombinant production of the aroma compound. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma Identification of rotundone backbone genes & precursor compounds from Piper nigrum圆柚酮（rotundone）是一种含氧倍半萜类化合物，可赋予物质胡椒辛香气。鉴于圆柚酮在香料工业中的重要应用价值，挖掘其在植物中的前体基因具有重要研究意义。本研究首次从黑胡椒中鉴定出圆柚酮的骨架合成基因，即α-愈创木烯合酶（α-guaiene synthase）与α-愈创木烯氧化酶（α-guaiene oxidase）。研究通过对黑胡椒浆果开展转录组谱分析，成功获得圆柚酮的前体基因；借助顶空质谱法（head space mass spectrometry）进行代谢组分析，证实黑胡椒浆果中存在圆柚酮生物合成的直接前体化合物。愈创木烯骨架相关基因与化合物的鉴定，将助力黑胡椒品种的生物资源勘探，以及该香气化合物的重组生产。 本文由拉马萨米·H·萨尔马（Ramaswamy H. Sarma）通讯。 从黑胡椒（Piper nigrum）中鉴定圆柚酮骨架基因及其前体化合物