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Cloning and characterization of squalene synthase gene from Poria cocos and its up-regulation by methyl jasmonate

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Abstract

Squalene synthase (SQS) catalyzes the condensation of two molecules of farnesyl diphosphate to give presqualene diphosphate and the subsequent rearrangement to form squalene. The gene encoding squalene synthase was cloned from Poria cocos by degenerate PCR and inverse PCR. The open reading frame of the gene is 1,497 bp, which encodes 499 amino acid residues. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that P. cocos SQS belonged to the fungus group, and was more closely related to the SQS of Ganoderma lucidum than other fungi. The treatment of P. cocos with methyl jasmonate (MeJA) significantly enhanced the transcriptional level of P. cocos sqs gene and the content of squalene in P. cocos. The transcriptional level of sqs gene was approximately fourfold higher than the control sample and the squalene content reached 128.62 μg/g, when the concentration of MeJA was 300 μM after 72 h induction.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 31071837, 31272217) and the Science & Technology Programs of Guangdong province in China (Grant Nos. 2011B090400412, 2012B020316004) for financial assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioengineering, College of Food Science, South China Agricultural University, 482 Wu-Shan Road, Tian-He District, Guangzhou, 510642, Guangdong, China

    Jian-Rong Wang, Jun-Fang Lin, Li-Qiong Guo, Lin-Feng You, **an-Lu Zeng & Jia-Ming Wen

  2. Institute of Biomass Energy Research, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, Guangdong, China

    Jun-Fang Lin, Li-Qiong Guo, Lin-Feng You & **an-Lu Zeng

  3. Guangdong VTR Bio-Tech Co., Ltd., Zhuhai, China

    Jian-Rong Wang

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  1. Jian-Rong Wang
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  2. Jun-Fang Lin
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  3. Li-Qiong Guo
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Correspondence to Li-Qiong Guo.

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Jian-Rong Wang and Jun-Fang Lin have contributed equally to this work.

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Wang, JR., Lin, JF., Guo, LQ. et al. Cloning and characterization of squalene synthase gene from Poria cocos and its up-regulation by methyl jasmonate. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 30, 613–620 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-013-1477-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-013-1477-z

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