Aixia Huang
<i>Pueraria candollei</i> var. <i>mirifica</i> is a Thai medicinal plant rich in phytoestrogen isoflavones and chromenes whose biosynthetic genes remain largely uncharacterized. Suntichaikamolkul et al (on pp. 64-79) discovered a cytochrome P450 (CYP81E63) that regiospecifically exhibits either 2’ or 3' daidzein hydroxylation. In addition, CYP81E63 interacted with several enzymes related to isoflavone biosynthesis, suggesting a scheme for metabolon formation in the pathway. These findings provide compelling evidence regarding the involvement of CYP81E63 in the early step of the biosynthesis of phytoestrogen miroestrol, which will be key to discovering subsequent steps in the biosynthetic pathway.