Fig. 3
The biosynthesis of artemisinin, as it is currently best understood, depicted in three phases. Enzymes in red were identified through Mascot searches of the MS data using the taxonomy A. annua while enzymes in blue were identified using the taxonomy viridiplantae. For the latter, if needed, additional homology searching was applied, using BLASTp with ‘Artemisia’ as organism (E value < 10−47). AACT – acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase; HMGS – (S)-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase; HMGR – (S)-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase; MVAK – mevalonate kinase; MVAPK – mevalonate-5-phosphate kinase; MPD - mevalonate-5-pyrophosphate decarboxylase; FPS – farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase; ADS – amorpha-4,11-diene synthase; CYP71AV1 - amorpha-4,11-diene 12-hydroxylase; DBR2 – artemisinic aldehyde Δ11,13 reductase; ALDH1 – aldehyde dehydrogenase 1