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. 2018 Oct 23;9:1542. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2018.01542

FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 1

Class II diterpene synthase functions in maize diterpenoid metabolism. Maize deploys functionally diverse families of class II and class I diterpene synthases (diTPSs) that act sequentially to form the core scaffolds of diverse biologically active diterpenoids that mediate plant growth and responses to both biotic and abiotic stress. Among the four class II diTPSs present in the maize genome, previous studies showed that ZmAN1 functions in gibberellin phytohormone biosynthesis, whereas ZmAN2 controls the formation of kauralexin and dolabralexin diterpenoids as major components of the maize chemical defense system (Schmelz et al., 2011; Mafu et al., 2018). ZmCPS3 and ZmCPS4 represent additional specialized class II diTPSs that form (+)-CPP and 8,13-CPP as major products, respectively, representing previously hidden precursors of maize specialized diterpenoid metabolism. GGPP, geranylgeranyl diphosphate; CPP, copalyl diphosphate; LPP, labda-13-en-8-ol diphosphate.