Abstract
Steroidal saponins have various biological activities. Steroidal saponins are often found in monocotyledons such as plants of the families Dioscoreaceae, Agavaceae, and Liliaceae. In particular, the rhizomes of Dioscorea, known as yam, contain furostane and spirostane glycosides such as protodioscin and dioscin, respectively. These steroid saponins are derived from choresterol by sequential modification with oxygenation and transglycosylation reaction as shown in Figure 1. Namely, several P450s are likely involved in oxygenations at the C-16, C-22, and C-26 positions, and UGTs will function in transglycosylation at C-3 and C-26. But little is known about enzyme and genes for dioscin biosynthesis. To investigate steroidal saponin biosynthesis in Dioscorea spp., we performed comparative transcriptome analysis of the rhizomes of Dioscorea spp. We will utilize these datasets to identify key genes for cholesterol and dioscin biosynthesis, and will apply the results to plant metabolic engineering of steroidal saponins.
