image: During seed development, sesame accumulates hydrophobic lignans such as sesamin. During germination, newly identified CYP706V enzymes and UGTs cooperatively drive large-scale conversion of lignans into structurally diverse water-soluble glucosides.
Credit: Suntory Foundation for Life Sciences
Sesame seeds are rich in lipid-soluble lignans such as sesamin, which are widely known as health-promoting phytochemicals. While these compounds rapidly decrease during germination and are converted into water-soluble glucosides, the molecular mechanism underlying this large-scale metabolic transition had remained unclear.
The researchers identified a new group of cytochrome P450 enzymes, CYP706V12–V14, that function specifically during germination and are distinct from the previously characterized sesamin oxidase CYP92B14, which acts during seed maturation. The study further revealed that these enzymes act cooperatively with UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs) to generate structurally diverse water-soluble lignan glucosides through sequential oxidation and glucosylation reactions.
The findings demonstrate that sesame dynamically reorganizes its specialized metabolic network depending on developmental stage. The work also provides new insight into the evolutionary diversification of plant specialized metabolism and may contribute to future breeding strategies aimed at enhancing beneficial lignan composition in sesame.
The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Dynamic diversification of lignan metabolism in sesame via coordinated oxygenation and glucosylation across germination
Article Publication Date
5-Jun-2026
COI Statement
E. Ono is an employee of Suntory Global Innovation Center, Ltd. The Suntory Foundation for Life Sciences is a non- profit organization. All other authors declare no competing financial interests.