Plant alkaloids, one of the largest groups of natural products, provide many pharmacologically active compounds. Several genes in the biosynthetic pathways for scopolamine, nicotine, and berberine have been cloned, making the metabolic engineering of these alkaloids possible. Expression of two branching-point enzymes was engineered: putrescine N-methyltransferase (PMT) in transgenic plants of A...

Aspernidine A is a prenylated isoindolinone alkaloid isolated from the model fungus Aspergillus nidulans. A genome-wide kinase knockout library of A. nidulans was examined, and it was found that a mitogen-activated protein kinase gene, mpkA, deletion strain produces aspernidine A. Targeted gene deletions were performed in the kinase deletion background to identify the gene cluster for aspernidi...

A new approach for the stereoselective synthesis of the bicyclic guanidine alkaloid (+)-monanchorin has been developed using a palladium(ii)-catalysed MOM-ether directed Overman rearrangement to establish the second stereogenic centre and a cross metathesis reaction to generate the carbon backbone. In the final stage, a one-pot acid mediated deprotection of aldehyde, guanidine and hydroxyl grou...

Plant secondary metabolism comprises an enormous diversity in compounds and enzymes, and wide spectra of mechanisms of gene regulation and of transport of metabolites and enzymes. Genetic approaches using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana have contributed importantly to recent progress in understanding glucosinolate biosynthesis and its intricate linkage with auxin homeostasis. Arabidopsis g...

A novel isoquinolinone alkaloid, iseluxine (1), has been isolated from the epigeal parts of Iseia luxurians (MORIC.) O'DONELL (Convolvulaceae), a climber indigenous to the tropical Americas. Structural elucidation was achieved by HRMS, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and HMBC spectroscopy. N- and/or O-methyl derivatives of 1 are already known from certain Magnoliidae families, e.g., the Fumariaceae, the Laura...

Ergot alkaloids are indole-derived mycotoxins that are important in agriculture and medicine. Ergot alkaloids are produced by a few representatives of two distantly related fungal lineages, the Clavicipitaceae and the Trichocomaceae. Comparison of the ergot alkaloid gene clusters from these two lineages revealed differences in the relative positions and orientations of several genes. The questi...

Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) produces a diverse array of bioactive benzylisoquinoline alkaloids and has emerged as a versatile model system to study plant alkaloid metabolism. The plant is widely cultivated as the only commercial source of the narcotic analgesics morphine and codeine. Variations in plant secondary metabolism as a result of genetic diversity are often associated with perturb...