Episode 501 - The journey of the mandarin

Lagrange Point

Mandarin oranges are very closely related but also incredibly diverse. A quirk of cloning means we can accurately trace the journey of all mandarins back to their origins in Hunan province. Mandarins come in so many shapes and sizes and are used to celebrate by many cultures, but they all share a lot in common. Oregano and Thyme both produce some great smells, but these chemicals can carry a useful punch. How do Oregano and Thyme produce chemicals with antibacterial properties?

1. Sandra T. Krause, Pan Liao, Christoph Crocoll, Benoît Boachon, Christiane Förster, Franziska Leidecker, Natalie Wiese, Dongyan Zhao, Joshua C. Wood, C. Robin Buell, Jonathan Gershenzon, Natalia Dudareva, Jörg Degenhardt. The biosynthesis of thymol, carvacrol, and thymohydroquinone in Lamiaceae proceeds via cytochrome P450s and a short-chain dehydrogenase. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021; 118 (52): e2110092118 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2110092118
2. Guohong Albert Wu, Chikatoshi Sugimoto, Hideyasu Kinjo, Chika Azama, Fumimasa Mitsube, Manuel Talon, Frederick G. Gmitter, Daniel S. Rokhsar. Diversification of mandarin citrus by hybrid speciation and apomixis. Nature Communications, 2021; 12 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24653-0