Xiaomeng Liu

Cloning and Sequence Analysis of an Acetyl-CoA C-Acetyltransferase Gene (AACT) from Chamaemelum nobile

Acetyl-CoA C-acetyltransferase (AACT) is one of key genes in the cytosolic mevalonate (MVA) biosynthetic pathway which regulate the terpenoid biosynthesis. To analyse the function of AACT gene in terpenoid biosynthesis in Chamaemelum nobile, we cloned a AACT gene (CnAACT, GenBank accession number MF662816) from C. nobile using RTPCR method. The full-length cDNA of CnAACT gene is 1727bp which contains an open reading frame (ORF) of 1224bp, encoding a 408 amino-acid protein. The theoretical molecular weight and pI of the CnAACT are 4.83kDa and 6.25, respectively. Multialignment comparison analysis showed the protein sequence of CnAACT had high similarity with AACT proteins from other plants. Furthermore, several conserved domain of AACT protein were found in CnAACT, suggesting CnAACT is one of AACT family members. The cloning and characterization of CnAACT provided basic data for further studying the function of CnAACT in the sesquiterpene biosynthesis in C. nobile. Accepted: 24 August 2017 Available Online: 06 October 2017