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Research Progress on Wax Ester Biosynthetic Pathway and the Related Key Enzymes
Yang Pu1, Xu Dongli 1, Chen Xiaoming1*, Liu Weiwei1, Gong Zhongjun2, Hu Yanhong1
1Research Institute of Resources Insects, Chinese Academy of Forestry, the Key Laboratory of Cultivating and Utilization of Resources Insects of State Forestry Administration, Kunming, 650224, China; 2Institute of Plant Protection, H
Abstract: Wax esters play an important role in life activities of organisms. It has been shown that the wax ester biosynthetic pathway is highly conserved in animals and plants. In this pathway， the fatty acyl-CoA precursor is reduced to the corresponding alcohol by fatty acyl-CoA reductase (FAR) and proceeds through esterification with alcohol， which is catalyzed by the wax synthase (WS)， yielding wax ester. FAR and WS are key enzymes responsible for wax biosynthesis. The structure and function of the two enzymes are different in different species. At present， there is no comprehensive analysis of the two enzymes. This paper reviews the sequence characteristics， biochemical characteristics， functions， and research status of the two enzymes， which purposes to provide reference for related researches.
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