cDNA cloning, prokaryotic expression and functional analysis of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) in Pogostemon cablin.

Pogostemon cablin is an important commercial source of patchouli oil, whose main active ingredient is patchouli alcohol. This sesquiterpene is a product of the mevalonate pathway, in which 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) is the rate-limiting enzyme. In this study, P. cablin HMGCR cDNA, comprising 2209 nucleotides encoding 425 amino acid residues was isolated, and bioinformatics analysis was used to analyze the protein sequence. Based on this analysis, a C-terminal truncated variant was engineered for recombinant expression in E. coli. The 38 kDa recombinant protein was identified by SDS-PAGE, and assayed for mevalonolactone production. According to the PcHMGCR1 gene sequence alignment with other species, the HMGCR protein had obvious resemblance with other plants HMG coenzyme A reductase and had homology with other species including plants, fungi, archaebacteria and animals. The prokaryotic expression vector was constructed by restriction enzyme digestion to be transformed into E. coli to express the recombinant protein, and 38 kDa recombinant protein was identified by the SDS-PAGE. Enzymatic activity was detected using GC-MS and, as a result, mevalonolactone was detected in the in vitro reaction mixture. Differential expression analysis showed that PcHMGCR1 expressed the highest amount in roots. The research results are of great significance for further research on the molecular biosynthesis mechanism of Patchouli alcohol in P. cablin.