Abstract: The present invention relates to an alcohol acyl transferase which is capable of esterifying a tertiary monoterpene alcohol such that at least 30% by mass of said tertiary monoterpene alcohol is esterified, preferably within 36 h, 24 h, 18 h, 12 h, 6 h, 3 h, 2 h, 1 h, 45 min or 30 min, more preferably in a microbial cell. The invention further relates to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding the alcohol acyl transferase of the invention, or a complementary sequence thereof, and a vector or gene construct comprising the nucleic acid of the invention. Further provided by the present invention is a host cell comprising the vector or gene construct of the invention, and a transgenic non-human organism comprising the nucleic acid of the invention, the vector or gene construct of the invention, or the host cell of the invention.

Abstract: Disclosed are santalene synthases with improved product profile and methods for improving santalene synthases. The invention further relates to santalene compositions produced by fermentation that have a greater beta-santalene content than alpha-santalene content.