<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 &amp; 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 &amp; compounds of the guaiene skeleton is expected to help in bioprospecting of black pepper varieties &amp; also in recombinant production of the aroma compound. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma Identification of rotundone backbone genes &amp; precursor compounds from <i>Piper nigrum</i>