Drimenol synthases II

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of producing drimenol and/or drimenol derivatives by contacting at least one polypeptide with farnesyl diphosphate. The method may be performed in vitro or in vivo. The present invention also provides amino acid sequences of polypeptides useful in the method of the invention and nucleic acid encoding the polypeptides of the invention. The method further provides host cells or organisms genetically modified to express the polypeptides of the invention and useful to produce drimenol and/or drimenol derivatives.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of producing drimenol comprising:
 i) contacting farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) with a polypeptide having drimenol synthase activity and comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 85% sequence identity to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 2 and SEQ ID NO: 5 to produce the drimenol; and 
 ii) optionally isolating the drimenol. 
 
     
     
       2. The method as recited in  claim 1  wherein the drimenol is isolated. 
     
     
       3. The method as recited in  claim 1  wherein the drimenol is produced with at least 30% selectivity. 
     
     
       4. The method as recited in  claim 1  comprising the steps of transforming a host cell or non-human organism with a nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 85% sequence identity of a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 2 and SEQ ID NO: 5 and culturing the host cell or organism under conditions that allow for the production of the polypeptide. 
     
     
       5. The method recited in  claim 4  wherein the cell is a prokaryotic cell or a eukaryotic cell. 
     
     
       6. The method as recited in  claim 4  wherein the cell is a bacterial cell. 
     
     
       7. The method as recited in  claim 5  wherein the eukaryotic cell is a yeast cell or a plant cell. 
     
     
       8. The method as recited in  claim 2  wherein the drimenol is produced with at least 30% selectivity.