Aza-tryptamine substrates in monoterpene indole alkaloid biosynthesis.

Chemistry and biology of monoterpene indole alkaloid biosynthesis.

De novo production of the plant-derived alkaloid strictosidine in yeast.

The monoterpene indole alkaloids are a large group of plant-derived specialized metabolites, many of which have valuable pharmaceutical or biological activity. There are ∼3,000 monoterpene indole alkaloids produced by thousands of plant species in numerous families. The diverse chemical structures found in this metabolite class originate from strictosidine, which is the last common biosynthetic...

Naucleamides A-E, new monoterpene indole alkaloids from Nauclea latifolia.

Five new monoterpene indole alkaloids, naucleamides A-E (1-5), were isolated from the bark and wood of Nauclea latifolia, and the structures and relative stereochemistry were elucidated from the spectroscopic data. Naucleamide E (5) is a unique monoterpene indole alkaloid possessing a pentacyclic ring system with an amino acetal bridge.

Silencing of tryptamine biosynthesis for production of nonnatural alkaloids in plant culture.

Natural products have long served as both a source and inspiration for pharmaceuticals. Modifying the structure of a natural product often improves the biological activity of the compound. Metabolic engineering strategies to ferment "unnatural" products have been enormously successful in microbial organisms. However, despite the importance of plant derived natural products, metabolic engineerin...

Basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors and regulation of alkaloid biosynthesis.

Transcription factors of the basic Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH) family play a central role in cell proliferation, determination, and differentiation. In plants, the regulatory functions of bHLHs in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis have been well established with regard to other interacting-proteins; i.e., MYB and WD40 repeat proteins. On the other hand, those in alkaloid biosynthesis are greatly limited...