Structural characterization of 15-hydroxytrichodiene, a sesquiterpenoid produced by transformed tobacco cell suspension cultures expressing a trichodiene synthase gene from Fusarium sporotrichioides.

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabaccum) cell suspension cultures transformed with a gene encoding trichodiene synthase, a sesquiterpene synthase from the fungus Fusarium sporotrichioides, produced a novel sesquiterpenoid derived from the in vivo production of trichodiene. Mass and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic analyses identified the new compound as 15-hydroxytrichodiene. The in vivo hydroxylation of trichodiene by transformant tobacco cell suspension cultures demonstrates that the introduction of a foreign sesquiterpene synthase gene can result in the production of novel sesquiterpenoid metabolites.