Fig. 3: Two methyltransferases control the production of 4VA in the final step.
From: Decoding 4-vinylanisole biosynthesis and pivotal enzymes in locusts
a, Phenylalanine, cinnamic acid (CA), p-HCA and 4VP content in different tissues of gregarious and solitary locusts. n = 5 biological replicates. G, gut; H, haemolymph; L, legs. b,c, Feeding with Phe-d5 (b) or CA-d6 (c) did not result in deuterated 4VA in solitary locusts. n = 5 biological replicates. d,e, Injection of p-HCA-d4 (d) or 4VP-d4 (e) did not result in production of 4VA-d4 in solitary locusts. n = 5 biological replicates. b–e, Right, representative chromatograms. f, Transcriptome analysis identified nine genes with differential expression patterns in hind legs of gregarious (G1–G3, leg shown on the left) versus solitary (S1–S3, leg shown on the right) locusts. n = 3 independent biological samples of gregarious and solitary hind legs for RNA sequencing. g, qPCR analysis shows six genes with higher expression in gregarious locusts than in solitary locusts. n = 8 biological replicates. h,i, Emission of 4VA after RNAi knockdown of LOCMI16699 (ds16699; h) or LOCMI02868 (ds02868; i). Locusts injected with double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) targeting GFP expression (dsGFP) were used as controls for all genes. n = 5 biological replicates. j,k, 4VPMT1 (j) and 4VPMT2 (k) exhibit enzyme activity that converts 4VP to 4VA. Mcps, million counts per second. P values were determined by a two-tailed unpaired t-test (a–e,g–i). Data are mean ± s.e.m.
