Parallel evolution of UbiA superfamily proteins into aromatic -prenyltransferases in plants.

Plants produce ∼300 aromatic compounds enzymatically linked to prenyl side chains via C-O bonds. These -prenylated aromatic compounds have been found in taxonomically distant plant taxa, with some of them being beneficial or detrimental to human health. Although their -prenyl moieties often play crucial roles in the biological activities of these compounds, no plant gene encoding an aromatic -prenyltransferase (-PT) has been isolated to date.

Apple latent spherical virus (ALSV)-induced gene silencing in a medicinal plant, Lithospermum erythrorhizon.

Lithospermum erythrorhizon is a medicinal plant that produces shikonin, a red lipophilic naphthoquinone derivative that accumulates exclusively in roots. The biosynthetic steps required to complete the naphthalene ring of shikonin and its mechanism of secretion remain unclear. Multiple omics studies identified several candidate genes involved in shikonin production.