@article { ISI:000343624300009, title = {Fungi mediated production and practical purification of (R)-(-)-3-quinuclidinol}, journal = {Tetrahedron Letters}, volume = {55}, number = {43}, year = {2014}, month = {OCT}, pages = {5911-5914}, publisher = {PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD}, address = {THE BOULEVARD, LANGFORD LANE, KIDLINGTON, OXFORD OX5 1GB, ENGLAND}, abstract = {

A fungal system belonging to Mucoraceae family (Mucor piriformis) was explored for the asymmetric reduction of a prochiral ketone, 3-quinuclidinone (I) in an efficient manner to produce an important pharmaceutical precursor (R)-(-)-3-quinuclidinol (II) with similar to 96\% enantiomeric excess. The efficiency of the process was improved by developing a cation exchange resin (Amberlite IR-120) which assisted the purification of water soluble metabolite II from fermentation media. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

}, keywords = {(R)-(-)-3-Quinuclidinol, Amberlite IR-120, Biotransformation, Ion exchange resin, Mucor pinformis}, issn = {0040-4039}, doi = {10.1016/j.tetlet.2014.09.015}, author = {Kolet, Swati P. and Jadhav, Dipesh D. and Priyadarshini, Balaraman and Swarge, Bhagyashree N. and Thulasiram, Hirekodathakallu V.} } @article { ISI:000355247900001, title = {Functional characterization of novel sesquiterpene synthases from Indian sandalwood, santalum album}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, volume = {5}, year = {2015}, month = {MAY}, pages = {Article Number: 10095}, publisher = {NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP}, address = {MACMILLAN BUILDING, 4 CRINAN ST, LONDON N1 9XW, ENGLAND}, abstract = {

Indian Sandalwood, Santalum album L. is highly valued for its fragrant heartwood oil and is dominated by a blend of sesquiterpenes. Sesquiterpenes are formed through cyclization of farnesyl diphosphate (FPP), catalyzed by metal dependent terpene cyclases. This report describes the cloning and functional characterization of five genes, which encode two sesquisabinene synthases (SaSQS1, SaSQS2), bisabolene synthase (SaBS), santalene synthase (SaSS) and farnesyl diphosphate synthase (SaFDS) using the transcriptome sequencing of S. album. Using Illumina next generation sequencing, 33.32 million high quality raw reads were generated, which were assembled into 84,094 unigenes with an average length of 494.17 bp. Based on the transcriptome sequencing, five sesquiterpene synthases SaFDS, SaSQS1, SaSQS2, SaBS and SaSS involved in the biosynthesis of FPP, sesquisabinene, beta-bisabolene and santalenes, respectively, were cloned and functionally characterized. Novel sesquiterpene synthases (SaSQS1 and SaSQS2) were characterized as isoforms of sesquisabinene synthase with varying kinetic parameters and expression levels. Furthermore, the feasibility of microbial production of sesquisabinene from both the unigenes, SaSQS1 and SaSQS2 in non-optimized bacterial cell for the preparative scale production of sesquisabinene has been demonstrated. These results may pave the way for in vivo production of sandalwood sesquiterpenes in genetically tractable heterologous systems.

}, issn = {2045-2322}, doi = {10.1038/srep10095}, author = {Srivastava, Prabhakar Lal and Daramwar, Pankaj P. and Krithika, Ramakrishnan and Pandreka, Avinash and Shankar, S. Shiva and Thulasiram, Hirekodathakallu V.} } @article { ISI:000374800700041, title = {Functional characterization and transient expression manipulation of a new sesquiterpene synthase involved in beta-caryophyllene accumulation in Ocimum}, journal = {Biochemical And Biophysical Research Communications}, volume = {473}, number = {1}, year = {2016}, month = {APR}, pages = {265-271}, publisher = {ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE}, address = {525 B ST, STE 1900, SAN DIEGO, CA 92101-4495 USA}, abstract = {

The genus Ocimum has a unique blend of diverse secondary metabolites, with major proportion of terpenoids including mono- and sesquiterpenes. Although, beta-Caryophyllene, bicyclic sesquiterpene, is one of the major terpene found in Ocimum species and known to possess several biological activities, not much is known about its biosynthesis in Ocimum. Here, we describe isolation and characterization of beta-caryophyllene synthase gene from Ocimum kilimandscharicum Gurke (OkBCS- GenBank accession no. KP226502). The open reading frame of 1629 bp encoded a protein of 542 amino acids with molecular mass of 63.6 kDa and pl value of 5.66. The deduced amino acid sequence revealed 50-70\% similarity with known sesquiterpene synthases from angiosperms. Recombinant OkBCS converted farnesyl diphosphate to beta-caryophyllene as a major product (94\%) and 6\% alpha-humulene. Expression variation of OkBCS well corroborated with beta-caryophyllene levels in different tissues from five Ocimum species. OkBCS transcript revealed higher expression in leaves and flowers. Further, agro-infiltration based transient expression manipulation with OkBCS over-expression and silencing confirmed its role in beta-caryophyllene biosynthesis. These findings may potentially be further utilized to improve plant defense against insect pests. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

}, keywords = {beta-Caryophyllene, Natural product biosynthesis, Ocimum, Terpene synthase, Transient expression}, issn = {0006-291X}, doi = {10.1016/j.bbrc.2016.03.090}, author = {Jayaramaiah, Ramesha H. and Anand, Atul and Beedkar, Supriya D. and Dholakia, Shushan B. and Punekar, Sachin A. and Kalunke, Raviraj M. and Gade, Wasudeo N. and Thulasiram, Hirekodathakallu V. and Giri, Ashok P.} } @article {42998, title = {Fungal mediated kinetic resolution of racemic acetates to (R)-alcohols using fusarium proliferatum}, journal = {Tetrahedron Letters}, volume = {57}, year = {2016}, month = {OCT}, pages = {4563-4567}, abstract = {

Fungal mediated kinetic resolution of seven acyclic/aromatic acetates was achieved using Fusarium proliferatum to furnish (R)-alcohols in high enantiomeric excess (\>95\%). The kinetic resolution was established as one-pot two-step de-esterification/oxidation biocatalytic process. Further, the preparative scale synthesis of (R)-(+)-1-phenylethanol was accomplished through de-esterification/oxidation of (+/-)-1-phenylethyl acetate using the whole cell of F. proliferatum NCIM 1105. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

}, doi = {10.1016/j.tetlet.2016.08.084}, author = {Jadhav, Dipesh D. and Patil, Harshal S. and Chaya, Patil S. and Thulasiram, Hirekodathakallu V.} }