Morphine Metabolism in the Opium Poppy and Its Possible Physiological Function

Studying Morphine Biosynthesis Using Transgenic Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum L.)

Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) produces a large variety of isoquinoline alkaloids. The aim of this investigation is to understand the regulation of biosynthesis and the ecological function of the alkaloids in the plant. Agrobacterium-mediated transformations of opium poppy were used to introduce the berberine bridge enzyme cDNA bbe 1 in the antisense orientation into seedling explants. Aft...

History of the Opium Habit, and Opium-Poppy Culture

Psychoactive Plants: Opium Poppy, Marijuana, and Cocaine

AFLP Analysis of Opium Poppy

There are several different DNA analysis procedures that have been used to identify and characterize plant Amplified restriction fragment length polymorphic (AFLP) DNA cultivars to determine genetic diversity. Each procedure analysis was performed on leaf samples of 40 accessions of opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) and two other control genera (Pahas it own requirements, sensitivity, and rel...

Secrets of the opium poppy revealed.

Studies concerning drugs of abuse have made major contributions in defining the circuitry, as well as cellular and molecular substrates that underlie certain behaviors. Opiate drugs for example, have revealed important insights concerning pain perception and reward. Up to the late 1960s, opiate drugs were suspected to work by mysteriously perturbing lipid membrane structure. We now know the fol...