Abstract
Triterpenoid saponins are suger-modified triterpene derivatives that have various functions, anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, and anti-microbial. Cereals and grasses are generally deficient in this secondary metabolite with the exception of oats. Our final goal is that the anti-microbial saponin is available for rice. We reported already that 1) triterpenoid saponins and the intermediates were not detected in rice young seedling by LC/MS and GC/MS analyses, 2) we found twelve Oxidosqualene cyclase homologues in rice genome using knowledge in oats, but it was likely that no one was involved in the triterpeneoid biosynthesis pathway. Here, we report that we found twelve OsCYP51 homologues in rice genome that are in next step of the pathway, and it is likely that one is for rice steroids biosynthesis pathway, and another is for rice triterpeneoids biosynthesis pathway, by genome structure and gene expression analyses.
