A substrate-multiplexed platform for profiling enzymatic potential of plant family 1 glycosyltransferases

Abstract Plants have expanded various biosynthetic enzyme families to produce a wide diversity of natural products; however, most enzymes encoded in plant genomes remain uncharacterized, highlighting the need for new functional genomic approaches. Here, we report a platform enabling the rapid functi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sasilada Sirirungruang, Vincent Blay, Elys P. Rodriguez, Yasmine F. Scott, Khanh M. Vuu, Collin R. Barnum, Paul H. Opgenorth, Fanzhou Kong, Yuanyue Li, Oliver Fiehn, Patrick M. Shih
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-07-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61530-6
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849764330065625088
author Sasilada Sirirungruang
Vincent Blay
Elys P. Rodriguez
Yasmine F. Scott
Khanh M. Vuu
Collin R. Barnum
Paul H. Opgenorth
Fanzhou Kong
Yuanyue Li
Oliver Fiehn
Patrick M. Shih
author_facet Sasilada Sirirungruang
Vincent Blay
Elys P. Rodriguez
Yasmine F. Scott
Khanh M. Vuu
Collin R. Barnum
Paul H. Opgenorth
Fanzhou Kong
Yuanyue Li
Oliver Fiehn
Patrick M. Shih
author_sort Sasilada Sirirungruang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Plants have expanded various biosynthetic enzyme families to produce a wide diversity of natural products; however, most enzymes encoded in plant genomes remain uncharacterized, highlighting the need for new functional genomic approaches. Here, we report a platform enabling the rapid functional characterization of plant family 1 glycosyltransferases, which serve important roles in plant development, defense, and communication. Using substrate-multiplexed reactions, mass spectrometry, and automated analysis, we screen 85 enzymes against a diverse library of 453 natural products, for a total of nearly 40,000 possible reactions. The resulting dataset reveals a widespread promiscuity and a strong preference for planar, hydroxylated aromatic substrates among family 1 glycosyltransferases. We also characterize glycosyltransferases with an unusually wide substrate scope and with a non-canonical Cys-Asp catalytic dyad. This work establishes a widely-applicable enzymatic screening pipeline, reflects the immense glycosylation capability of plants, and has implications in biocatalysis, metabolic engineering, and gene discovery.
format Article
id doaj-art-1187bf58fd5e40fa90c452a416cc0d45
institution DOAJ
issn 2041-1723
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Nature Communications
spelling doaj-art-1187bf58fd5e40fa90c452a416cc0d452025-08-20T03:05:10ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-07-0116111210.1038/s41467-025-61530-6A substrate-multiplexed platform for profiling enzymatic potential of plant family 1 glycosyltransferasesSasilada Sirirungruang0Vincent Blay1Elys P. Rodriguez2Yasmine F. Scott3Khanh M. Vuu4Collin R. Barnum5Paul H. Opgenorth6Fanzhou Kong7Yuanyue Li8Oliver Fiehn9Patrick M. Shih10Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of CaliforniaJoint BioEnergy InstituteDepartment of Chemistry, University of CaliforniaJoint BioEnergy InstituteJoint BioEnergy InstituteDepartment of Plant Biology, University of CaliforniaJoint BioEnergy InstituteDepartment of Chemistry, University of CaliforniaWest Coast Metabolomics Center, University of CaliforniaDepartment of Chemistry, University of CaliforniaDepartment of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of CaliforniaAbstract Plants have expanded various biosynthetic enzyme families to produce a wide diversity of natural products; however, most enzymes encoded in plant genomes remain uncharacterized, highlighting the need for new functional genomic approaches. Here, we report a platform enabling the rapid functional characterization of plant family 1 glycosyltransferases, which serve important roles in plant development, defense, and communication. Using substrate-multiplexed reactions, mass spectrometry, and automated analysis, we screen 85 enzymes against a diverse library of 453 natural products, for a total of nearly 40,000 possible reactions. The resulting dataset reveals a widespread promiscuity and a strong preference for planar, hydroxylated aromatic substrates among family 1 glycosyltransferases. We also characterize glycosyltransferases with an unusually wide substrate scope and with a non-canonical Cys-Asp catalytic dyad. This work establishes a widely-applicable enzymatic screening pipeline, reflects the immense glycosylation capability of plants, and has implications in biocatalysis, metabolic engineering, and gene discovery.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61530-6
spellingShingle Sasilada Sirirungruang
Vincent Blay
Elys P. Rodriguez
Yasmine F. Scott
Khanh M. Vuu
Collin R. Barnum
Paul H. Opgenorth
Fanzhou Kong
Yuanyue Li
Oliver Fiehn
Patrick M. Shih
A substrate-multiplexed platform for profiling enzymatic potential of plant family 1 glycosyltransferases
Nature Communications
title A substrate-multiplexed platform for profiling enzymatic potential of plant family 1 glycosyltransferases
title_full A substrate-multiplexed platform for profiling enzymatic potential of plant family 1 glycosyltransferases
title_fullStr A substrate-multiplexed platform for profiling enzymatic potential of plant family 1 glycosyltransferases
title_full_unstemmed A substrate-multiplexed platform for profiling enzymatic potential of plant family 1 glycosyltransferases
title_short A substrate-multiplexed platform for profiling enzymatic potential of plant family 1 glycosyltransferases
title_sort substrate multiplexed platform for profiling enzymatic potential of plant family 1 glycosyltransferases
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61530-6
work_keys_str_mv AT sasiladasirirungruang asubstratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT vincentblay asubstratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT elysprodriguez asubstratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT yasminefscott asubstratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT khanhmvuu asubstratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT collinrbarnum asubstratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT paulhopgenorth asubstratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT fanzhoukong asubstratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT yuanyueli asubstratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT oliverfiehn asubstratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT patrickmshih asubstratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT sasiladasirirungruang substratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT vincentblay substratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT elysprodriguez substratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT yasminefscott substratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT khanhmvuu substratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT collinrbarnum substratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT paulhopgenorth substratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT fanzhoukong substratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT yuanyueli substratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT oliverfiehn substratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases
AT patrickmshih substratemultiplexedplatformforprofilingenzymaticpotentialofplantfamily1glycosyltransferases