Extended Data Fig. 5. Putative biochemical pathway from 7 to oxidized Xenia diterpenoids.

A: Putative terpenoid cluster including Cytochrome P450 genes and short chain dehydrogenase genes additionally to the characterized terpene cyclase XsTC-1, which produces 7. B: Putative overview how different compounds isolated from Xenia spp. and closely related corals could be explained from 7 using CYP and SHD chemistry. The oxidative cleavage of the cyclobutene ring in 7 has been proposed in the literature²⁸. The end points of these putative biochemical pathways all represent isolated molecules from different Xenia spp.⁸ and could all result from CYP and SDH chemistry following the outlined scheme. Acylations and methylations are also observed in some compounds but could be the result of non-clustered specific or promiscuous enzymatic activity.

CYP = cytochrome P450 monooxygenase, IDS = isoprenyl diphosphate synthase, SDH = short-chain dehydrogenase, TC = terpene cyclase, MT = methyl transferase, AT = acyl transferase.