CYP6DE1

During the colonization of host trees, female mountain pine beetles Dendroctonus ponderosae release the aggregation pheromone (−)-trans-verbenol. (−)-trans-verbenol is thought to be produced from the pine defense compound (−)-α-pinene by P450 dependent hydroxylation. Chiu et al.,2019 showed that CYP6DE1 used the bicyclic monoterpenes (−)-α-pinene, (+)-α-pinene, (−)-β-pinene, (+)-β-pinene and (+)-3-carene as substrates. CYP6DE1 was not active with other monoterpenes or diterpene resin acids that were tested as substrates. trans-verbenol is the major product of CYP6DE1 activity with (−)-α-pinene or (+)-α-pinene as substrates. When tested with blends of different ratios of (−)-α-pinene and (+)-α-pinene, CYP6DE1 produced trans-verbenol with an enantiomeric profile that was similar to that produced by female mountain pine beetles exposed to the α-pinene enantiomers