Cover Picture: Structure and Function of a "Head‐to‐Middle" Prenyltransferase: Lavandulyl Diphosphate Synthase (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 15/2016). Issue 15 (8th March 2016) - Liu, Meixia
Abstract : The irregular terpene synthase lavandulyl diphosphate synthase (LPPS) produces the precursor of the commercially important lavender fragrance lavandulol by an unusual "head‐to‐middle" mechanism. In their Communication onpage 4721 ff., E. Oldfield, R.‐T. Guo, and Y. Ma et al. present the first structure of LPPS from lavender complexed with its substrate. The butterfly shape structure is remarkably similar to that of proteins involved in bacterial cell‐wall biosynthesis, and led to the proposal of a unique condensation mechanism of action of general interest to terpene synthesis.