中国科学院分子植物科学卓越创新中心陈晓亚研究团队在研究中取得进展。他们开发出基于进化历史的CoQ₁₀作物设计。这一研究成果于2025年2月13日发表在国际顶尖学术期刊《细胞》上。

基于对CoQ₉和CoQ₁₀在陆地植物中的分布以及相关的Coq1序列变异的广泛调查，研究组确定了Coq1催化口袋底部的关键氨基酸变化，这些氨基酸变化独立发生在多个被子植物谱系中，并反复驱动CoQ₉的形成。在此基础上，研究团队以基因编辑为主题，对水稻和小麦的原生Coq1基因进行修饰，产生CoQ₁₀，为开发CoQ₁₀的其他膳食特性铺平道路。

据介绍，辅酶Q（CoQ）对线粒体呼吸产生能量至关重要，它是一种最常以促进心血管健康为主题的补充剂。人类可以合成CoQ₁₀，但谷物和一些蔬菜/水果作物合成CoQ₉时，CoQ₉的侧链含有9个异戊二烯单位。在作物中设计CoQ₁₀的生产将有益于人类健康，但由于控制链长度的Coq1的特定残基未知，这一事实阻碍了这一点。

附：英文原文

Title: Design of CoQ10 crops based on evolutionary history

Author: Jing-Jing Xu, Yuan Lei, Xiao-Fan Zhang, Jian-Xu Li, Qiupeng Lin, Xiang-Dong Wu, Yu-Guo Jiang, Wenyi Zhang, Runtong Qian, Shu-Yi Xiong, Kuo Tan, Yu Jia, Qiang Zhou, Yan Jiang, Hang Fan, Yan-Bo Huang, Ling-Jian Wang, Ji-Yun Liu, Yu Kong, Qing Zhao, Lei Yang, Jinxing Liu, Yong-Hong Hu, Shuai Zhan, Caixia Gao, Xiao-Ya Chen

Issue&Volume: 2025-02-13

Abstract: Coenzyme Q (CoQ) is essential for energy production by mitochondrial respiration, and it is a supplement most often used to promote cardiovascular health. Humans make CoQ₁₀, but cereals and some vegetable/fruit crops synthesize CoQ₉ with a side chain of nine isoprene units. Engineering CoQ₁₀ production in crops would benefit human health, but this is hindered by the fact that the specific residues of the enzyme Coq1 that control chain length are unknown. Based on an extensive investigation of the distribution of CoQ₉ and CoQ₁₀ in land plants and the associated Coq1 sequence variation, we identified key amino acid changes at the base of the Coq1 catalytic pocket that occurred independently in multiple angiosperm lineages and repeatedly drove CoQ₉ formation. Guided by this knowledge, we used gene editing to modify the native Coq1 genes of rice and wheat to produce CoQ₁₀, paving the way for developing additional dietary sources of CoQ₁₀.

DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.01.023

Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(25)00087-X