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Dr.
Rodney Croteau
.jpg) 509-335-1790
croteau@wsu.edu
Professor
of Molecular Plant Sciences. Professor of Biochemistry. Fellow
of the Institute of Biological Chemistry. Ph.D.1970, University
of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Research
Our research
deals broadly with the origin, metabolism and function of terpenoids
in plants, and more specifically with the monoterpene (C10), sesquiterpene
(C15) and diterpene (C20) constituents of the essential oils and
resins used in pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, flavors, fragrances,
and as industrial raw materials. These low molecular weight terpenoids
also provide a means of chemical defense and communication in plants,
yet these compounds are also catabolized during development, suggesting
a metabolic role in addition to the ecological function.
Specific areas
of investigation include: the structure and mechanism of the enzymes
of terpenoid biosynthesis and catabolism; the molecular regulation
of metabolism directed toward improved production of terpenoids
as petrochemical replacements; the genetic and biochemical origins
of terpenoid phytoalexins and phytotoxins, and the mechanism of
induced conifer resistance to bark beetle infestation; the biochemical
basis of developmental and environmental influences on the composition
and yield of commercial terpenoid products (oils, resins, waxes);
and biological and molecular approaches (cell cultures, immobilized
enzymes, catalytically-modified proteins, transgenic plants) to
industrial-scale production of terpenoid compounds of agrochemical
and pharmaceutical significance, including taxol.
Research projects
for beginning graduate students may be drawn from any of the above
areas and could include: molecular cloning, mutagenesis and expression
of prenyltransferases and cyclases, cytochrome P450 oxygenases,
and related metabolic enzymes for studies on active site structure
and function; mechanistic studies using stable and radioisotopic
labeling techniques and spectrometric and kinetic methods; enzyme
purification, characterization, and localization using immunocytochemistry
and other approaches; determination of intracellular metabolite
and enzyme levels, and flux controls, using radiochemical, chromatographic,
and immunochemical techniques; elucidating the transcriptional and
translational control of biosynthesis and catabolism in developmentally
regulated constitutive and induced terpene formation; and genetic
engineering of terpenoid metabolic pathways in crop plants.
Dr. Croteau is not accepting graduate
students at this time, but he is accepting postdoctoral research
associates and visiting scientists.
Diagrams
Crystal
structure of bornyl diphosphate synthase that catalyzes the
monoterpene cyclization of geranyl diphosphate to bornyl diphosphate,
the precursor of camphor.
The
committed diterpenoid precursor taxadiene is converted to the
anticancer drug Taxol by a series of hydroxylation and acylation
reactions.
The
organization
of monoterpene biosynthesis in the oil glands of peppermint
is complex in involving plastidial endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondrial
and cytosolic sites of metabolism.
Selected Publications
Hyatt, D.C., Youn, B., Zhao, Y., Santhamma, B.,
Coates, R.M., Croteau, R. and Kang, C.-H. 2007. Structure
of Limonene Synthase, a Simple Model for Terpenoid Cyclase Catalysis. Proc.
Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104:5360-5365.
Ketchum, R.E.B., Horiguchi, T., Qiu, D., Williams,
R.M. and Croteau, R.B. 2006. Feeding Cultured Taxus Cells
with Early Precursors Reveals Bifurcations in the Taxoid Biosynthetic
Pathway. Phytochemistry 68:335-341.
Ketchum, R.E.B., Wherland, L. and Croteau, R.B. 2007. Stable
Transformation and Long-Term Maintenance of Taxus Cell
Suspension Cultures. Plant Cell Rep. (in press).
Mau, C.J.D. and Croteau, R. 2006. Cytochrome
P450 Oxygneases of Monoterpene Metabolism. Phytochem. Rev. 5:373-383.
Kaspera, R. and Croteau, R. 2006. Cytochrome
P450 Oxygenases of Taxol Biosynthesis. Phytochem. Rev. 5:433-444.
Davis, E.M., Ringer, K.L. and Croteau, R. 2006. Biochemistry,
Enzymology, and Biotechnological Potential of Monoterpene Biosynthesis
in Mentha. Am. Chem. Soc. Symp. Ser. (in press).
Croteau, R., Ketchum, R.E.B., Long, R.M., Kaspera,
R. and Wildung, M.R. 2006. Taxol Biosynthesis and Molecular
Genetics. Phytochem. Rev. 5:75-97.
Ketchum, R.E.B. and Croteau, R.B. 2006. The
Taxoid Metabolome and the Elucidation of the Paclitaxel Biosynthetic
Pathway in Cell Suspension Cultures of Taxus. In "Biotechnology
in Agriculture and Forestry", Saito, K., Dixon, R. and Willmetzer,
L. (eds.), Springer, Heidelberg, 57:291-309.
DeJong, J.M., Liu, Y., Bollon, A.P., Long, R.M.,
Jennewein, S., Williams, D. and Croteau, R.B. 2006. Genetic
Engineering of Taxol Biosynthetic Genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Biotechnol. Bioengin. 93:212-224.
Croteau, R., Davis, E.M., Ringer, K.L. and Wildung, M.R. 2005. Menthol
Biosynthesis and Molecular Genetics. Naturwissenschaften 92:562-577.
Long, R.M. and Croteau, R. 2005. Preliminary Assessment
of the C13-Side Chain 2´-Hydroxylase Involved in Taxol Biosynthesis.
Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 338:410-417.
Hyatt, D.C. and Croteau, R. 2005. Mutational Analysis
of a Monoterpene Synthase Reaction: Altered Catalysis Through Directed
Mutagenesis of (-)-Pinene Synthase from Abies grandis. Arch. Biochem.
Biophys. 439:222-233.
Jin, Q., Williams, D.C., Hezari, M., Croteau, R. and Coates, R.M. 2005. Stereochemistry
of the Macrocyclization and Elimination Steps in Taxadiene Biosynthesis
Through Deuterium Labeling. J. Org. Chem. 70:4667-4675.
Wildung, M.R. and Croteau, R.B. 2005 Genetic Engineering of Peppermint
for Improved Essential Oil Composition and Yield. Transgen. Res. 14:365-372.
Jin, Y., Williams, D.C., Croteau, R. and Coates, R.M. 2005. Taxadiene
Synthase-Catalyzed Cyclization of 6-Fluorogeranylgeranyl Diphosphate
to 7-Fluoroverticillenes. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 127:7834-7842.
Davis, E.M., Ringer, K.L., McConkey, M.E. and Croteau, R. 2005. Monoterpene
Metabolism: Cloning, Expression and Characterization of Menthone
Reductases from Peppermint. Plant Physiol. 137:873-881.
Ringer, K.L., Davis, E.M. and Croteau, R. 2005. Monoterpene
Metabolism: Cloning, Expression and Characterization of (-)-Isopiperitenol/(-)-Carveol
Dehydrogenase from Peppermint and Spearmint. Plant Physiol. 137:863-872.
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