Biochemical characteristics of a novel vegetative tissue geraniol acetyltransferase from a monoterpene oil grass (Palmarosa, Cymbopogon martinii var. Motia) leaf

► Secondary metabolism linked BAHD family acyltransferases catalyze ester biosynthesis. ► An aroma grass BAHD-AAT characterized in volatile oil ester biogenesis perspectives. ► Its wide but novel substrate specificity governs esters production in planta. ► It forms first case of a naturally existing active AAT despite variant DFGWG motif. ► New conserved motifs are identified in BAHD-AATs with very low sequence similarity.