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Yuan X, Li R, He W, Xu W, Xu W, Yan G, Xu S, Chen L, Feng Y, Li H. Progress in Identification of UDP-Glycosyltransferases for Ginsenoside Biosynthesis. JOURNAL OF NATURAL PRODUCTS 2024. [PMID: 38449105 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.3c00630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Ginsenosides, the primary pharmacologically active constituents of the Panax genus, have demonstrated a variety of medicinal properties, including anticardiovascular disease, cytotoxic, antiaging, and antidiabetes effects. However, the low concentration of ginsenosides in plants and the challenges associated with their extraction impede the advancement and application of ginsenosides. Heterologous biosynthesis represents a promising strategy for the targeted production of these natural active compounds. As representative triterpenoids, the biosynthetic pathway of the aglycone skeletons of ginsenosides has been successfully decoded. While the sugar moiety is vital for the structural diversity and pharmacological activity of ginsenosides, the mining of uridine diphosphate-dependent glycosyltransferases (UGTs) involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis has attracted a lot of attention and made great progress in recent years. In this paper, we summarize the identification and functional study of UGTs responsible for ginsenoside synthesis in both plants, such as Panax ginseng and Gynostemma pentaphyllum, and microorganisms including Bacillus subtilis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The UGT-related microbial cell factories for large-scale ginsenoside production are also mentioned. Additionally, we delve into strategies for UGT mining, particularly potential rapid screening or identification methods, providing insights and prospects. This review provides insights into the study of other unknown glycosyltransferases as candidate genetic elements for the heterologous biosynthesis of rare ginsenosides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoxuan Yuan
- Institute of Structural Pharmacology & TCM Chemical Biology, College of Pharmacy, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian 350122, China
| | - Ruiqiong Li
- College of Integrative Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian 350122, China
| | - Weishen He
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, United States
| | - Wei Xu
- Institute of Structural Pharmacology & TCM Chemical Biology, College of Pharmacy, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian 350122, China
| | - Wen Xu
- Innovation and Transformation Center, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian 350122, China
| | - Guohong Yan
- Pharmacy Department, People's Hospital Affiliated to Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian 350004, China
| | - Shaohua Xu
- Institute of Structural Pharmacology & TCM Chemical Biology, College of Pharmacy, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian 350122, China
- State Key Laboratory of Dao-di Herbs, Beijing 100700, China
| | - Lixia Chen
- Institute of Structural Pharmacology & TCM Chemical Biology, College of Pharmacy, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian 350122, China
- Wuya College of Innovation, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110016, China
| | - Yaqian Feng
- Innovation and Transformation Center, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian 350122, China
| | - Hua Li
- Institute of Structural Pharmacology & TCM Chemical Biology, College of Pharmacy, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian 350122, China
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Jung J, Liu H, Borg AJE, Nidetzky B. Solvent Engineering for Nonpolar Substrate Glycosylation Catalyzed by the UDP-Glucose-Dependent Glycosyltransferase UGT71E5: Intensification of the Synthesis of 15-Hydroxy Cinmethylin β-d-Glucoside. JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY 2023; 71:13419-13429. [PMID: 37655961 PMCID: PMC10510383 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.3c04027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2023] [Revised: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
Abstract
Sugar nucleotide-dependent glycosyltransferases are powerful catalysts of the glycosylation of natural products and xenobiotics. The low solubility of the aglycone substrate often limits the synthetic efficiency of the transformation catalyzed. Here, we explored different approaches of solvent engineering for reaction intensification of β-glycosylation of 15HCM (a C15-hydroxylated, plant detoxification metabolite of the herbicide cinmethylin) catalyzed by safflower UGT71E5 using UDP-glucose as the donor substrate. Use of a cosolvent (DMSO, ethanol, and acetonitrile; ≤50 vol %) or a water-immiscible solvent (n-dodecane, n-heptane, n-hexane, and 1-hexene) was ineffective due to enzyme activity and stability, both impaired ≥10-fold compared to a pure aqueous solvent. Complexation in 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin enabled dissolution of 50 mM 15HCM while retaining the UGT71E5 activity (∼0.32 U/mg) and stability. Using UDP-glucose recycling, 15HCM was converted completely, and 15HCM β-d-glucoside was isolated in 90% yield (∼150 mg). Collectively, this study highlights the requirement for a mild, enzyme-compatible strategy for aglycone solubility enhancement in glycosyltransferase catalysis applied to glycoside synthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jihye Jung
- Institute
of Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering, Graz University of Technology, NAWI Graz, A-8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Hui Liu
- Institute
of Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering, Graz University of Technology, NAWI Graz, A-8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Annika J. E. Borg
- Institute
of Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering, Graz University of Technology, NAWI Graz, A-8010 Graz, Austria
- Austrian
Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, A-8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Bernd Nidetzky
- Institute
of Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering, Graz University of Technology, NAWI Graz, A-8010 Graz, Austria
- Austrian
Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, A-8010 Graz, Austria
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Sun Q, Guo F, Ren S, Zhang L, Liu X, Li C, Feng X. Construction of a UDP-Arabinose Regeneration System for Efficient Arabinosylation of Pentacyclic Triterpenoids. ACS Synth Biol 2023; 12:2463-2474. [PMID: 37473419 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.3c00351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/22/2023]
Abstract
Glycosylation is an important method of modifying natural products and is usually catalyzed by uridine 5'-diphosphate (UDP)-glycosyltransferase. UDP-β-l-arabinose (UDP-Ara) confers specific functions to natural products such as pentacyclic triterpenoids. However, UDP-arabinosyltransferase with high regioselectivity toward pentacyclic triterpenoids has rarely been reported. In addition, UDP-Ara is mainly biosynthesized from UDP-α-d-glucose (UDP-Glc) through several reaction steps, resulting in the high cost of UDP-Ara. Herein, UGT99D1 was systematically characterized for specifically transferring one moiety of arabinose to the C-3 position of typical pentacyclic triterpenoids. Subsequently, 15 enzymes from plants, mammals, and microorganisms were characterized, and a four-enzyme cascade comprising sucrose synthase, UDP-Glc dehydrogenase, UDP-α-d-glucuronic acid decarboxylase, and UDP-Glc 4-epimerase was constructed to transform sucrose into UDP-Ara with UDP recycling. This system was demonstrated to efficiently produce the arabinosylated derivative (Ara-BA) of typical pentacyclic triterpenoid betulinic acid (BA). Finally, the in vitro cytotoxicity tests indicated that Ara-BA showed much higher anticancer activities than BA. The established arabinosylation platform shows the potential to enhance the pharmacological activity of natural products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiuyan Sun
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecule Science and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Institute of Biochemical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Fang Guo
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecule Science and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Institute of Biochemical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Shichao Ren
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecule Science and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Institute of Biochemical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Liang Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecule Science and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Institute of Biochemical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Xinhe Liu
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecule Science and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Institute of Biochemical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Chun Li
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecule Science and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Institute of Biochemical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
- Key Lab for Industrial Biocatalysis, Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Xudong Feng
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecule Science and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Institute of Biochemical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
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Multienzyme Synthesis of Glycyrrhetic Acid 3-O-mono-β-d-glucuronide by Coupling UGT73F15 to UDP-Glucuronic Acid Regeneration Module. Catalysts 2023. [DOI: 10.3390/catal13010104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Glycyrrhetic acid 3-O-mono-β-d-glucuronide (GAMG), a rare and innovative compound in licorice, exhibits high-potency sweetness and improved physiological activities. However, low amounts of GAMG from plants cannot meet the demands of growing markets. In this study, an efficient one-pot multienzyme cascade reaction for GAMG biosynthesis was constructed using a coupled catalysis of glycosyltransferase and uridine 5′-diphosphate (UDP) glucuronic acid (GlcA) regeneration system. The Glycyrrhiza uralensis glycosyltransferase UGT73F15 was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The optimal reaction conditions of UGT73F15 were found to be pH 7.5 and 35 °C. The catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km) for glycyrrhetic acid (GA) was 2.14 min−1 mM−1 when using UDP-GlcA as sugar donor. To regenerate costly UDP-GlcA, the one-pot multienzyme cascade reaction including UGT73F15, sucrose synthase, UDP-glucose dehydrogenase, and lactate dehydrogenase was adopted to synthesize GAMG from GA on the basis of the UDP-GlcA regeneration system. By optimizing the cascade reaction conditions, the GAMG production successfully achieved 226.38 mg/L. Our study developed an economical and efficient one-pot multienzyme cascade method for facile synthesis of GAMG and other bioactive glucuronosides.
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Duan Y, Du W, Song Z, Chen R, Xie K, Liu J, Chen D, Dai J. Functional characterization of a cycloartenol synthase and four glycosyltransferases in the biosynthesis of cycloastragenol-type astragalosides from Astragalus membranaceus. Acta Pharm Sin B 2023; 13:271-283. [PMID: 36815054 PMCID: PMC9939298 DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2022.05.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2022] [Revised: 05/04/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Astragalosides are the main active constituents of traditional Chinese medicine Huang-Qi, of which cycloastragenol-type glycosides are the most typical and major bioactive compounds. This kind of compounds exhibit various biological functions including cardiovascular protective, neuroprotective, etc. Owing to the limitations of natural sources and the difficulties encountered in chemical synthesis, re-engineering of biosynthetic machinery will offer an alternative and promising approach to producing astragalosides. However, the biosynthetic pathway for astragalosides remains elusive due to their complex structures and numerous reaction types and steps. Herein, guided by transcriptome and phylogenetic analyses, a cycloartenol synthase and four glycosyltransferases catalyzing the committed steps in the biosynthesis of such bioactive astragalosides were functionally characterized from Astragalus membranaceus. AmCAS1, the first reported cycloartenol synthase from Astragalus genus, is capable of catalyzing the formation of cycloartenol; AmUGT15, AmUGT14, AmUGT13, and AmUGT7 are four glycosyltransferases biochemically characterized to catalyze 3-O-xylosylation, 3-O-glucosylation, 25-O-glucosylation/O-xylosylation and 2'-O-glucosylation of cycloastragenol glycosides, respectively. These findings not only clarified the crucial enzymes for the biosynthesis and the molecular basis for the structural diversity of astragalosides in Astragalus plants, also paved the way for further completely deciphering the biosynthetic pathway and constructing an artificial pathway for their efficient production.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Zhijun Song
- State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, CAMS Key Laboratory of Enzyme and Biocatalysis of Natural Drugs, NHC Key Laboratory of Biosynthesis of Natural Products, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Ridao Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, CAMS Key Laboratory of Enzyme and Biocatalysis of Natural Drugs, NHC Key Laboratory of Biosynthesis of Natural Products, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Kebo Xie
- State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, CAMS Key Laboratory of Enzyme and Biocatalysis of Natural Drugs, NHC Key Laboratory of Biosynthesis of Natural Products, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Jimei Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, CAMS Key Laboratory of Enzyme and Biocatalysis of Natural Drugs, NHC Key Laboratory of Biosynthesis of Natural Products, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Dawei Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, CAMS Key Laboratory of Enzyme and Biocatalysis of Natural Drugs, NHC Key Laboratory of Biosynthesis of Natural Products, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Jungui Dai
- State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, CAMS Key Laboratory of Enzyme and Biocatalysis of Natural Drugs, NHC Key Laboratory of Biosynthesis of Natural Products, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
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Luo Y, Jiang Y, Chen L, Li C, Wang Y. Applications of protein engineering in the microbial synthesis of plant triterpenoids. Synth Syst Biotechnol 2022; 8:20-32. [PMID: 36381964 PMCID: PMC9634032 DOI: 10.1016/j.synbio.2022.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2022] [Revised: 10/03/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Triterpenoids are a class of natural products widely used in fields related to medicine and health due to their biological activities such as hepatoprotection, anti-inflammation, anti-viral, and anti-tumor. With the advancement in biotechnology, microorganisms have been used as cell factories to produce diverse natural products. Despite the significant progress that has been made in the construction of microbial cell factories for the heterogeneous biosynthesis of triterpenoids, the industrial production of triterpenoids employing microorganisms has been stymied due to the shortage of efficient enzymes as well as the low expression and low catalytic activity of heterologous proteins in microbes. Protein engineering has been demonstrated as an effective way for improving the specificity, catalytic activity, and stability of the enzyme, which can be employed to overcome these challenges. This review summarizes the current progress in the studies of Oxidosqualene cyclases (OSCs), cytochrome P450s (P450s), and UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs), the key enzymes in the triterpenoids synthetic pathway. The main obstacles restricting the efficient catalysis of these key enzymes are analyzed, the applications of protein engineering for the three key enzymes in the microbial synthesis of triterpenoids are systematically reviewed, and the challenges and prospects of protein engineering are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Luo
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecule Science and Pharmaceutics Engineering, Institute of Biochemical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Yaozhu Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecule Science and Pharmaceutics Engineering, Institute of Biochemical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Linhao Chen
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecule Science and Pharmaceutics Engineering, Institute of Biochemical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Chun Li
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecule Science and Pharmaceutics Engineering, Institute of Biochemical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China,Key Laboratory for Industrial Biocatalysis, Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Ying Wang
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecule Science and Pharmaceutics Engineering, Institute of Biochemical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China,Corresponding author.
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Metabolic Engineering of Escherichia coli for Hyperoside Biosynthesis. Microorganisms 2022; 10:microorganisms10030628. [PMID: 35336203 PMCID: PMC8949062 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10030628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Hyperoside (quercetin 3-O-galactoside) exhibits many biological functions, along with higher bioactivities than quercetin. In this study, three UDP-dependent glycosyltransferases (UGTs) were screened for efficient hyperoside synthesis from quercetin. The highest hyperoside production of 58.5 mg·L−1 was obtained in a recombinant Escherichia coli co-expressing UGT from Petunia hybrida (PhUGT) and UDP-glucose epimerase (GalE, a key enzyme catalyzing the conversion of UDP-glucose to UDP-galactose) from E. coli. When additional enzymes (phosphoglucomutase (Pgm) and UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (GalU)) were introduced into the recombinant E. coli, the increased flux toward UDP-glucose synthesis led to enhanced UDP-galactose-derived hyperoside synthesis. The efficiency of the recombinant strain was further improved by increasing the copy number of the PhUGT, which is a limiting step in the bioconversion. Through the optimization of the fermentation conditions, the production of hyperoside increased from 245.6 to 411.2 mg·L−1. The production was also conducted using a substrate-fed batch fermentation, and the maximal hyperoside production was 831.6 mg·L−1, with a molar conversion ratio of 90.2% and a specific productivity of 27.7 mg·L−1·h−1 after 30 h of fermentation. The efficient hyperoside synthesis pathway described here can be used widely for the glycosylation of other flavonoids and bioactive substances.
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He B, Bai X, Tan Y, Xie W, Feng Y, Yang GY. Glycosyltransferases: Mining, engineering and applications in biosynthesis of glycosylated plant natural products. Synth Syst Biotechnol 2022; 7:602-620. [PMID: 35261926 PMCID: PMC8883072 DOI: 10.1016/j.synbio.2022.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2021] [Revised: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 01/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
UDP-Glycosyltransferases (UGTs) catalyze the transfer of nucleotide-activated sugars to specific acceptors, among which the GT1 family enzymes are well-known for their function in biosynthesis of natural product glycosides. Elucidating GT function represents necessary step in metabolic engineering of aglycone glycosylation to produce drug leads, cosmetics, nutrients and sweeteners. In this review, we systematically summarize the phylogenetic distribution and catalytic diversity of plant GTs. We also discuss recent progress in the identification of novel GT candidates for synthesis of plant natural products (PNPs) using multi-omics technology and deep learning predicted models. We also highlight recent advances in rational design and directed evolution engineering strategies for new or improved GT functions. Finally, we cover recent breakthroughs in the application of GTs for microbial biosynthesis of some representative glycosylated PNPs, including flavonoid glycosides (fisetin 3-O-glycosides, astragalin, scutellarein 7-O-glucoside), terpenoid glycosides (rebaudioside A, ginsenosides) and polyketide glycosides (salidroside, polydatin).
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Liang YY, Zan XY, Sun L, Fu X, Cui FJ, Tan M, Shao ZY, Sun WJ. A uridine diphosphate-glycosyltransferase GFUGT88A1 derived from edible mushroom Grifola frondosa extends oligosaccharide chains. Process Biochem 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.procbio.2021.11.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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