The natural product class of iridoids, found in various species of flowering plants, harbors astonishing chemical complexity. The discovery of iridoid biosynthetic genes in the medicinal plant Catharanthus roseus has provided insight into the biosynthetic origins of this class of natural product. However, not all iridoids share the exact five- to six-bicyclic ring scaffold of the Catharanthus i...

Catharanthus roseus (L.).G. Don, a highly valued medicinal plant suffers from a serious disease. A survey on the symptom and severity of the leaf blight of C. roseus was performed in the nurseries of the Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences (IFESCU), Bangladesh Council of Industrial Research (BCSIR) and Bangladesh Forest Research Institute (BFRI), Bangladesh. An observation was also...

Catharanthus roseus is an important medicinal plant known for its pharmacological qualities such as antimicrobial, anticancerous, antifeedant, antisterility, antidiabetic activities. More than 130 bioactive compounds like vinblastine, vindoline and vincristine have been synthesized in this plant. Extensive studies have been carried out for optimization regeneration and transformation protocols....

Hydroxylation at the C-16 position of the indole alkaloid tabersonine has been suggested as the first step toward vindoline biosynthesis in Catharanthus roseus. Tabersonine 16-hydroxylase (16-OH) activity was detected in total protein extracts from young leaves of C. roseus using a novel coupled assay system. Enzyme activity was dependent on NADPH and molecular oxygen and was inhibited by CO, c...

The overproduction of specialized metabolites requires plants to manage the inherent burdens, including the risk of self-intoxication. We present a control mechanism that stops the expression of phytoalexin biosynthetic enzymes by blocking the antecedent signal transduction cascade. Cultured cells of Eschscholzia californica (Papaveraceae) and Catharanthus roseus (Apocynaceae) overproduce benzo...