This enzyme belongs to the family of lyases, specifically those carbon-oxygen lyases acting on phosphates. The systematic name of this enzyme class is (2E,6E)-farnesyl-diphosphate diphosphate-lyase (cyclizing, (+)-δ-cadinene-forming). This enzyme participates in terpenoid biosynthesis. It employs one cofactor, magnesium.

δ-Cadinene synthase, a sesquiterpene cyclase, is an enzyme expressed in plants that catalyzes a cyclization reaction in terpenoid biosynthesis. The enzyme cyclizes farnesyl diphosphate to δ-cadinene and releases pyrophosphate.

δ-Cadinene synthase is one of the key steps in the synthesis of gossypol, a toxic terpenoid produced in cotton seeds. Recently, cotton plants that stably underexpress the enzyme in seeds have been developed using RNA interference techniques, producing a plant that had been proposed as a rich source of dietary protein for developing countries.^[1]

External links

References

^ Sunilkumar G, Campbell L, Puckhaber L, Stipanovic R, Rathore K (2006). "Engineering cottonseed for use in human nutrition by tissue-specific reduction of toxic gossypol". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 103 (48): 18054–9. doi:10.1073/pnas.0605389103. PMC 1838705. PMID 17110445.

Chen XY, Chen Y, Heinstein P, Davisson VJ (1995). "Cloning, expression, and characterization of (+)-delta-cadinene synthase: a catalyst for cotton phytoalexin biosynthesis". Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 324 (2): 255–66. doi:10.1006/abbi.1995.0038. PMID 8554317.
Davis EM, Tsuji J, Davis GD, Pierce ML, Essenberg M (1996). "Purification of (+)-delta-cadinene synthase, a sesquiterpene cyclase from bacteria-inoculated cotton foliar tissue". Phytochemistry. 41 (4): 1047–55. doi:10.1016/0031-9422(95)00771-7. PMID 8728715.
Davis GD, Essenberg M (1995). "(+)-delta-Cadinene is a product of sesquiterpene cyclase activity in cotton". Phytochemistry. 39 (3): 553–567. doi:10.1016/0031-9422(95)00067-H.

v t e Carbon–oxygen lyases (EC 4.2) (primarily dehydratases)
4.2.1: Hydro-Lyases	Carbonic anhydrase Fumarase Aconitase Enolase Alpha Enolase 2 Enoyl-CoA hydratase/3-Hydroxyacyl ACP dehydrase Methylglutaconyl-CoA hydratase Tryptophan synthase Cystathionine beta synthase Porphobilinogen synthase 3-Isopropylmalate dehydratase Urocanase Uroporphyrinogen III synthase Nitrile hydratase
4.2.2: Acting on polysaccharides	Hyaluronate lyase Pectin lyase
4.2.3: Acting on phosphates	Threonine synthase
4.2.99: Other	Carboxymethyloxysuccinate lyase Hydroperoxide lyase

v t e Enzymes
Activity	Active site Binding site Catalytic triad Oxyanion hole Enzyme promiscuity Diffusion-limited enzyme Cofactor Enzyme catalysis
Regulation	Allosteric regulation Cooperativity Enzyme inhibitor Enzyme activator
Classification	EC number Enzyme superfamily Enzyme family List of enzymes
Kinetics	Enzyme kinetics Eadie–Hofstee diagram Hanes–Woolf plot Lineweaver–Burk plot Michaelis–Menten kinetics
Types	EC1 Oxidoreductases (list) EC2 Transferases (list) EC3 Hydrolases (list) EC4 Lyases (list) EC5 Isomerases (list) EC6 Ligases (list) EC7 Translocases (list)