I-Corps: Insect enzymes for high value compunds for pheromone and scent industries

合成单萜类醇并将其作为诱捕器和诱饵的信息素成分用于森林害虫管理策略。此外，它们是消费品的重要组成部分，如气味、调味剂或治疗剂。目前的生产方法依赖于有机合成或从植物精油中分离，具有相关的成本和局限性。例如，许多合成需要多个步骤，有害溶剂和/或方案，并且收率降低。相比之下，酶催化的羟基化和其他修饰只需一步，在水缓冲液中安全且通常具有相对较高的保真度。研究人员已经克隆并鉴定了松树皮甲虫修饰单萜烯的酶，包括细胞色素P450和氧化还原酶。在许多情况下，它们催化不同底物的特定反应，产生单一产物，有时对映体过量。该项目旨在将先前关于单萜烯酶修饰的研究结果扩展到有用的应用中，并以比现有方法更快、更安全、成本更低的方法生产单萜醇。如果成功完成，研究人员将能够展示单萜烯酶转化为单萜醇，包括一种适合用于树皮甲虫诱饵或陷阱的特定类型，每次用量接近1克。此外，研究人员计划将该项目中使用的方法纳入本科学习。

Monoterpenoid alcohols are synthesized and used in forest insect pest management strategies as pheromone components in traps and lures. In addition, they are important components of consumer products as scents, flavorants, or therapeutic agents. Current production methods rely on organic syntheses or isolation from plant essential oils, with associated costs and limitations. For example, many syntheses require multiple steps, hazardous solvents and/or protocols, and reduced yields. In contrast, enzyme-catalyzed hydroxylations and other modifications occur in single steps, safely in aqueous buffer and often with comparatively high fidelity. Researchers have cloned and characterized pine bark beetle enzymes that modify monoterpenes, including cytochromes P450 and oxidoreductases. In many cases they catalyze specific reactions for different substrates, resulting in single products, sometimes with extreme enantiomeric excess. This project seeks to expand the results of prior research on enzymatic monoterpene modification into useful applications and produce monoterpenoid alcohols in a faster, safer and less costly method than current methods. If successfully completed, researchers will be able to show enzymatic conversion of monoterpenes to monoterpenoid alcohols including a specific type suitable for use in bark beetle lures or traps, in amounts approaching 1 gram per run. Additionally, researchers plan to incorporate methods used during this project into undergraduate studies.