Widespread Sterol Methyltransferase Participates in the Biosynthesis of Both C4α- and C4β-Methyl Sterols
The 4-methyl steranes serve as molecular fossils and are used for studying both eukaryotic evolution and geological history. The occurrence of 4α-methyl steranes in sediments has long been considered evidence of products of partial demethylation mediated by sterol methyl oxidases (SMOs), while 4β-me...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Chemical Society (ACS)
2023
|
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/148264 |
| _version_ | 1811082233607356416 |
|---|---|
| author | Zhou, Wenxu Zhang, Xu Wang, Aoqi Yang, Lin Gan, Qinhua Yi, Liang Summons, Roger E Volkman, John K Lu, Yandu |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Zhou, Wenxu Zhang, Xu Wang, Aoqi Yang, Lin Gan, Qinhua Yi, Liang Summons, Roger E Volkman, John K Lu, Yandu |
| author_sort | Zhou, Wenxu |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The 4-methyl steranes serve as molecular fossils and are used for studying both eukaryotic evolution and geological history. The occurrence of 4α-methyl steranes in sediments has long been considered evidence of products of partial demethylation mediated by sterol methyl oxidases (SMOs), while 4β-methyl steranes are attributed entirely to diagenetic generation from 4α-methyl steroids since possible biological sources of their precursor 4β-methyl sterols are unknown. Here, we report a previously unknown C4-methyl sterol biosynthetic pathway involving a sterol methyltransferase rather than the SMOs. We show that both C4α- and C4β-methyl sterols are end products of the sterol biosynthetic pathway in an endosymbiont of reef corals, Breviolum minutum, while this mechanism exists not only in dinoflagellates but also in eukaryotes from alveolates, haptophytes, and aschelminthes. Our discovery provides a previously untapped route for the generation of C4-methyl steranes and overturns the paradigm that all 4β-methyl steranes are diagenetically generated from the 4α isomers. This may facilitate the interpretation of molecular fossils and understanding of the evolution of eukaryotic life in general. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:59:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/148264 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:59:50Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | American Chemical Society (ACS) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1482642023-03-01T03:29:15Z Widespread Sterol Methyltransferase Participates in the Biosynthesis of Both C4α- and C4β-Methyl Sterols Zhou, Wenxu Zhang, Xu Wang, Aoqi Yang, Lin Gan, Qinhua Yi, Liang Summons, Roger E Volkman, John K Lu, Yandu Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences The 4-methyl steranes serve as molecular fossils and are used for studying both eukaryotic evolution and geological history. The occurrence of 4α-methyl steranes in sediments has long been considered evidence of products of partial demethylation mediated by sterol methyl oxidases (SMOs), while 4β-methyl steranes are attributed entirely to diagenetic generation from 4α-methyl steroids since possible biological sources of their precursor 4β-methyl sterols are unknown. Here, we report a previously unknown C4-methyl sterol biosynthetic pathway involving a sterol methyltransferase rather than the SMOs. We show that both C4α- and C4β-methyl sterols are end products of the sterol biosynthetic pathway in an endosymbiont of reef corals, Breviolum minutum, while this mechanism exists not only in dinoflagellates but also in eukaryotes from alveolates, haptophytes, and aschelminthes. Our discovery provides a previously untapped route for the generation of C4-methyl steranes and overturns the paradigm that all 4β-methyl steranes are diagenetically generated from the 4α isomers. This may facilitate the interpretation of molecular fossils and understanding of the evolution of eukaryotic life in general. 2023-02-28T19:57:28Z 2023-02-28T19:57:28Z 2022 2023-02-28T19:54:41Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/148264 Zhou, Wenxu, Zhang, Xu, Wang, Aoqi, Yang, Lin, Gan, Qinhua et al. 2022. "Widespread Sterol Methyltransferase Participates in the Biosynthesis of Both C4α- and C4β-Methyl Sterols." Journal of the American Chemical Society, 144 (20). en 10.1021/JACS.2C01401 Journal of the American Chemical Society Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ application/pdf American Chemical Society (ACS) ACS |
| spellingShingle | Zhou, Wenxu Zhang, Xu Wang, Aoqi Yang, Lin Gan, Qinhua Yi, Liang Summons, Roger E Volkman, John K Lu, Yandu Widespread Sterol Methyltransferase Participates in the Biosynthesis of Both C4α- and C4β-Methyl Sterols |
| title | Widespread Sterol Methyltransferase Participates in the Biosynthesis of Both C4α- and C4β-Methyl Sterols |
| title_full | Widespread Sterol Methyltransferase Participates in the Biosynthesis of Both C4α- and C4β-Methyl Sterols |
| title_fullStr | Widespread Sterol Methyltransferase Participates in the Biosynthesis of Both C4α- and C4β-Methyl Sterols |
| title_full_unstemmed | Widespread Sterol Methyltransferase Participates in the Biosynthesis of Both C4α- and C4β-Methyl Sterols |
| title_short | Widespread Sterol Methyltransferase Participates in the Biosynthesis of Both C4α- and C4β-Methyl Sterols |
| title_sort | widespread sterol methyltransferase participates in the biosynthesis of both c4α and c4β methyl sterols |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/148264 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zhouwenxu widespreadsterolmethyltransferaseparticipatesinthebiosynthesisofbothc4aandc4bmethylsterols AT zhangxu widespreadsterolmethyltransferaseparticipatesinthebiosynthesisofbothc4aandc4bmethylsterols AT wangaoqi widespreadsterolmethyltransferaseparticipatesinthebiosynthesisofbothc4aandc4bmethylsterols AT yanglin widespreadsterolmethyltransferaseparticipatesinthebiosynthesisofbothc4aandc4bmethylsterols AT ganqinhua widespreadsterolmethyltransferaseparticipatesinthebiosynthesisofbothc4aandc4bmethylsterols AT yiliang widespreadsterolmethyltransferaseparticipatesinthebiosynthesisofbothc4aandc4bmethylsterols AT summonsrogere widespreadsterolmethyltransferaseparticipatesinthebiosynthesisofbothc4aandc4bmethylsterols AT volkmanjohnk widespreadsterolmethyltransferaseparticipatesinthebiosynthesisofbothc4aandc4bmethylsterols AT luyandu widespreadsterolmethyltransferaseparticipatesinthebiosynthesisofbothc4aandc4bmethylsterols |