CRISPR/Cas9-mediated disruption of the PYRROLIDINE KETIDE SYNTHASE gene reduces the accumulation of tropane alkaloids in Atropa belladonna hairy roots

Tropane alkaloids, including clinically important hyoscyamine and scopolamine, are produced in the roots of medicinal plant species, such as Atropa belladonna, from the Solanaceae family. Recent molecular and genomic approaches have advanced our understanding of the metabolic enzymes involved in tropane alkaloid biosynthesis. A noncanonical type III polyketide synthase, pyrrolidine ketide synthase (PYKS) catalyzes a two-step decarboxylative reaction, which involves imine–ketide condensation indispensable to tropane skeleton construction. In this study, we generated pyks mutant A. belladonna hairy roots via CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing and analyzed the metabolic consequences of the loss of PYKS activity on tropane alkaloids, providing insights into a crucial role of the scaffold-forming reaction in the biosynthetic pathway.