Terpenes are a large and diverse class of organic compounds. They are mainly produced by plants, particularly conifers (they give Christmas trees their inviting pine scent.) Some can also be manufactured by fungi. New research suggests that bacteria are also a source.
The name “terpene” is derived from the word “turpentine.” Terpenes and their aromatic by-product terpenoids are the primary constituents of so-termed essential oils. Essential oils are used widely as natural flavor additives for food, as fragrances in perfumery, and in medicine and alternative medicines such as aromatherapy. Indeed, much of our modern way of life — from fuels, to plastics, to deodorants — is built using chemicals derived from oil. All told scientists have isolated some 50,000 terpene compounds over the past fifty years.
As part of the search for new sources, scientists have found that genetic capacity of bacteria to make terpenes is widespread. Through using advanced genetic screening to sift through genomic databases for a range of bacteria, scientists have so far pinpointed 262 gene sequences that can code for terpene synthases. These are enzymes that catalyze the production terpenes. Through this some 13 previously unidentified bacterial terpenes have been detected. The new structures were verified by mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
The richest source is from the bacterial genus Streptomyces. This was genetically modified in the laboratory. Here, by extracting some of the gene sequences, the research group found that by splicing them into their test organism, this allowed the organisms generate the product using the instructions from the newly introduced gene.
The new research has been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research is titled “Terpene synthases are widely distributed in bacteria.”
