• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.9
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• pp.1442-1448
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• 2015

The flavonoid apigenin and its O-methyl derivative, genkwanin, have various biological activities and can be sourced from some vegetables and fruits. Microorganisms are an alternative for the synthesis of flavonoids. Here, to synthesize genkwanin from tyrosine, we first synthesized apigenin from p-coumaric acid using four genes (4CL, CHS, CHI, and FNS) in Escherichia coli. After optimization of different combinations of constructs, the yield of apigenin was increased from 13 mg/l to 30 mg/l. By introducing two additional genes (TAL and POMT7) into an apigenin-producing E. coli strain, we were able to synthesize 7-O-methyl apigenin (genkwanin) from tyrosine. In addition, the tyrosine content in E. coli was modulated by overexpressing aroG and tyrA. The engineered E. coli strain synthesized approximately 41 mg/l genkwanin.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.491-494
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• 2009

Within the secondary metabolite class of flavonoids, which consist of more than 10,000 known structures, flavones define one of the largest subgroups. The diverse function of flavones in plants as well as their various roles in the interaction with other organisms offers many potential applications including in human nutrition and pharmacology. We used two genes, flavone synthase (PFNS-l) that converts naringenin into apigenin and flavone 7-O-methyltransferase (POMT-7) that converts apigenin into 7-O-methyl apigenin, to synthesize 7-O-methyl apigenenin from naringenin. The PFNS-l gene was subcloned into the E. coli expression vector pGEX and POMT-7 was subcloned into the pRSF vector. Since both constructs contain different replication origins and selection markers, they were cotransformed into E. coli. Using E. coli transformants harboring both PFNS-l and POMT-7, naringenin could be converted into 7-O-methyl apigenin, genkwanin.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.148-154
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• 1997

The antioxidant activity of Artemisia iwayomogi was determined by measuring the radical scavenging effect on 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical. The methanol extract of A. iwayomogi showed strong antioxidant activity, and thus fractionated with several solvents. The antioxidant activity potential of the individual fraction was in the order of ethyl acetate > n-butanol > water > chloroform > n-hexane fraction. The ethyl acetate and n-butanol soluble fractions exhibiting strong antioxidant activity were further purified by repeated sitica get and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. Antioxidant chlorogenic acid was isolated as one of the active principles from the n-butanol fraction, together with the inactive components, 1octacosanol, scopoletin, scopolin, apigenin $7, 4^{I}$-di-O-methylether, luteolin $6, 3^{I}$-di-O-methylether (jaceosidin), apigenin methylether (genkwanin), 2, 4-dihydroxy-6-methoxyacetophenone $4-O-{\beta}-$D-glucopyranoside and quebrachitol. The antioxidant activity of chlorogenic acid was comparable to that of L-ascorbic acid, which is a well known antioxidant.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.80-85
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• 2014

In the course of screening for antioxidant compounds from natural plants in Korea by measuring the radical scavenging effect, a methanol extract of the flower buds of Daphne genkwa S. et Z. (Thymelaeaceae) was found to show a potent antioxidant activity. Subsequent activity-guided fractionation of methanol extract of D. genkwa led to the isolation of four compounds from the ethyl acetate soluble fraction. The chemical structures were elucidated as genkwanin (1), 3'-hydroxygenkwanin (2), apigenin (3), and tiliroside (4) by spectroscopic techniques. Among them, compound 2 showed the significant anti-oxidative effect on DPPH. And compound 2 showed the significant riboflavin-and xanthine-originated superoxide quenching activities. To verify the antioxidant enzymatic activities of compound 2, the SOD enzymatic activity was measured spectrophtometrically using prepared Caenorhabditis elegans homogenates. The results showed that compound 2 was able to elevate SOD activity of C. elegans in a dose dependent manner. Moreover, compound 2 decreased the intracellular ROS accumulation of worms.