ArticleThe Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology2019
Functional specialization of UDP-glycosyltransferase 73P12 in licorice to produce a sweet triterpenoid saponin, glycyrrhizin.
Article in The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
45 citing papers in PubMed, 98 citations in OpenAlex.
- T2T and chromosome-level genome assemblies provide insights into the genetic basis of bioactive compound biosynthesis and environmental adaptation in licorice.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Article
- Complete biosynthesis of the clinical agent escin Ia.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Dietary glycyrrhizic acid improves growth performance and modulates upper respiratory microbiota in weaned piglets.BMC veterinary research · 2026Article
- Advances in UDP-Glycosyltransferases from Medicinal Plants: Discovery, Catalytic Mechanism, Engineering and Biosynthetic Application.Metabolites · 2026Review
- Discovery and engineering of UDP-glycosyltransferase and its applications in natural sweetener glycosylation.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Review
- Advanced applications of synthetic biology technology in biosynthesis of bioactive compounds from medicinal plants.Chinese herbal medicines · 2026Review
- Enzymology and Structural Basis of Glycosyltransferases Involved in Saponin C28 Carboxylic AcidJACS Au · 2025Article
- Stress Responsive Glycosyltransferase (UGT72Z7) from Glycyrrhiza glabra Showed Glycosylation of Azadirachtin.Applied biochemistry and biotechnology · 2025Article
- Unveiling the catalytical roles of three glycosyltransferases in triterpenoid saponins in quinoa.Plant biotechnology journal · 2025Article
- Review
- Development of phytochemical genomics: From decoding metabolome to functional genomics and biotechnology of plant metabolism.Proceedings of the Japan Academy. Series B, Physical and biological sciences · 2025Review
- The biosynthesis of asiaticoside and madecassoside reveals tandem duplication-directed evolution of glycoside glycosyltransferases in the Apiales.Plant communications · 2024Article
- Unraveling the Mechanism of Xiaochaihu Granules in Alleviating Yeast-Induced Fever Based on Network Analysis and Experimental Validation.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Similarities in Structure and Function of UDP-Glycosyltransferase Homologs from Human and Plants.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Glycyrrhizin Production in Licorice Hairy Roots Based on Metabolic Redirection of Triterpenoid Biosynthetic Pathway by Genome Editing.Plant & cell physiology · 2024Article
- Review
- The sugar donor specificity of plant family 1 glycosyltransferases.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2024Review
- Inhibition of Uridine 5'-diphospho-glucuronosyltransferases A10 and B7 by vitamins: insights from in silico and in vitro studies.In silico pharmacology · 2024Article
- Disruption of a licorice cellulose synthase-derived glycosyltransferase gene demonstrates its in planta role in soyasaponin biosynthesis.Plant cell reports · 2023Article
- Heterologous biosynthesis of medicarpin using engineeredSynthetic and systems biotechnology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 8 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Glycyrrhizin, a sweet triterpenoid saponin found in the roots and stolons of Glycyrrhiza species (licorice), is an important active ingredient in traditional herbal medicine. We previously identified two cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, CYP88D6 and CYP72A154, that produce an aglycone of glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetinic acid, in Glycyrrhiza uralensis. The sugar moiety of glycyrrhizin, which is composed of two glucuronic acids, makes it sweet and reduces its side-effects. Here, we report that UDP-glycosyltransferase (UGT) 73P12 catalyzes the second glucuronosylation as the final step of glycyrrhizin biosynthesis in G. uralensis; the UGT73P12 produced glycyrrhizin by transferring a glucuronosyl moiety of UDP-glucuronic acid to glycyrrhetinic acid 3-O-monoglucuronide. We also obtained a natural variant of UGT73P12 from a glycyrrhizin-deficient (83-555) strain of G. uralensis. The natural variant showed loss of specificity for UDP-glucuronic acid and resulted in the production of an alternative saponin, glucoglycyrrhizin. These results are consistent with the chemical phenotype of the 83-555 strain, and suggest the contribution of UGT73P12 to glycyrrhizin biosynthesis in planta. Furthermore, we identified Arg32 as the essential residue of UGT73P12 that provides high specificity for UDP-glucuronic acid. These results strongly suggest the existence of an electrostatic interaction between the positively charged Arg32 and the negatively charged carboxy group of UDP-glucuronic acid. The functional arginine residue and resultant specificity for UDP-glucuronic acid are unique to UGT73P12 in the UGT73P subfamily. Our findings demonstrate the functional specialization of UGT73P12 for glycyrrhizin biosynthesis during divergent evolution, and provide mechanistic insights into UDP-sugar selectivity for the rational engineering of sweet triterpenoid saponins.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.