Quantitation of morphine and other major alkaloids in opium gum from specially cultivated Papaver setigerum DC (“Wild Poppy”) is presented. Papaver setigerum plants (n = 14) were grown in an atmosphere containing a slightly elevated level of carbon dioxide (390 ppm). Opium gum collected from the capsules of the mature plants was analyzed for morphine, codeine, thebaine, noscapine, and papaverin...

Morphine, first characterized in opium from the poppy Papaver somniferum, is one of the strongest known analgesics. Endogenous morphine has been identified in several mammalian cells and tissues. The synthetic pathway of morphine in the opium poppy has been elucidated. The presence of common intermediates in plants and mammals suggests that biosynthesis occurs through similar pathways (beginnin...

A study of somatic embryogenesis and rhizogenesis and their influence on production of morphinan alkaloids on two species of opium poppy is presented. We identified the ratios of auxin and cytokinin that caused somatic embryogenesis and rhizogenesis in hypocotyl and cotyledons of Papaver somniferum album and Papaver orientale splendidissimum. The hypocotyls and cotyledons both show somatic embr...

Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) produces medicinally important benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, including the analgesics codeine and morphine, in the morphinan pathway. We aligned three dioxygenases that were recently discovered in P. somniferum and subsequently identified the nonconserved regions. Two of these enzymes, codeine O-demethylase (PsCODM) and thebaine O-demethylase (PsT6ODM), are know...

to develop an optimal bioprocess for benzophenanthridin alkaloids production, various metabolite engineering are studied to increase yields, in which one of them is elicitation. elicitors are biotic or abiotic molecules that have effectively stimulated the production of plant secondary metabolites in cell and organ cultures. since this plant serves as the only commercial source of morphine and ...

Opioids are the primary drugs used in Western medicine for pain management and palliative care. Farming of opium poppies remains the sole source of these essential medicines, despite diverse market demands and uncertainty in crop yields due to weather, climate change, and pests. We engineered yeast to produce the selected opioid compounds thebaine and hydrocodone starting from sugar. All work w...

Oripavine is the major alkaloid of Papaver orientale. It is an important intermediate in the biosynthesis of morphine alkaloids. Recently, new Papaver somniferum strains have been developed which accumulate thebaine and oripavine, but not morphine and codeine. Therefore, the chemistry of oripavine has been studied intensively to synthesize opioid pharmaceuticals such as oxymorphone, naloxone an...