Pivotal enzyme that involved in the biosynthesis of agarwood fragrances leading to development of artificial agarwood

Abstract

Agarwood has been valued since ancient times as a noble, high-grade fragrant wood. Because of its rarity, agarwood is traded at a high price, and the number of its original plants has been drastically reduced due to a succession of overharvesting. However, an efficient agarwood cultivation method has not yet been developed. The fragrance of agarwood is mainly derived from 2-(2-phenylethyl)chromones (PECs). Recently, we identified a key enzyme that forms the PEC skeleton. This paper outlines the characteristics of the enzyme, and the biosynthetic pathway of PECs.