02312nas a2200253   4500008004100000022001400041245010500055210006900160260007400229300001200303490000800315520137900323653003001702653001501732653002201747653002301769653001701792100001601809700001701825700003201842700003701874700002701911856012001938       2015                        eng d  a0167-685700aOverexpression of squalene synthase in withania somnifera leads to enhanced withanolide biosynthesis0 aOverexpression of squalene synthase in withania somnifera leads   aVAN GODEWIJCKSTRAAT 30, 3311 GZ DORDRECHT, NETHERLANDSbSPRINGERcAUG  a409-4200 v1223 a<p>Genetic engineering of secondary metabolic pathways is an emerging area of research for production and improvement of natural products in plant biotechnology. Here, we describe a systematic approach to manipulate a key regulatory step of isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway in Withania somnifera to study its effect on withanolide production. We generated T-0 W. somnifera plants overexpressing squalene synthase (WsSQS) by Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation, which were analyzed by Gus biochemical assay and PCR of hygromycin phosphotransferase (hptII) and WsSQS. qRT-PCR analyses of various transformed tissues indicated 2-5 fold increase in WsSQS transcripts in both T-0 and T-1 generations. The tissue specific protein expression studies revealed 2-3 fold increase in WsSQS, which was further confirmed by enzyme activity. These observations were corroborated with the 1.5-2 fold increase in total withanolide content of the transformed tissues. However, in leaf tissue, the levels of Withaferin A and Withanolide A increased significantly up to 4-4.5 fold. These findings demonstrate genetic engineering of isoprenoid pathway in W. somnifera resulting in enhanced production of withanolides, and also provide insights into such metabolic pathways for their manipulation to improve the pharmacological content of different medicinally important plants.</p>10aAgrobacterium tumefaciens10aSolanaceae10aSqualene synthase10aWithania somnifera10aWithanolides1 aPatel, Neha1 aPatel, Parth1 aKendurkar, Shuchishweta, V.1 aThulasiram, Hirekodathakallu, V.1 aKhan, Bashir, Mohammad  uhttps://library.ncl.res.in/content/overexpression-squalene-synthase-withania-somnifera-leads-enhanced-withanolide-0