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Article
Evaluation of reference genes for qRT-PCR studies in the colchicine producing Gloriosa superba L.
The flame lily, Gloriosa superba L., is one of the two primary sources of the anti-inflammatory drug, colchicine. Previous studies have shown that a higher level of colchicine production occurs in the rhizomes th...
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Article
Biosynthesis of Veratrum californicum specialty chemicals in Camelina sativa seed
Economically feasible systems for heterologous production of complex secondary metabolites originating from difficult to cultivate species are in demand since Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae are not...
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Article
The Amaryllidaceae alkaloids: biosynthesis and methods for enzyme discovery
Amaryllidaceae alkaloids are an example of the vast diversity of secondary metabolites with great therapeutic promise. The identification of novel compounds in this group with over 300 known structures continu...
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Article
Production of mono- and sesquiterpenes in Camelina sativa oilseed
Camelina was bioengineered to accumulate (4 S )-limonene and (+)-δ-cadinene in seed. Plastidic localization of the recombinant enzymes resulted in higher yie...
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Article
Open AccessData access for the 1,000 Plants (1KP) project
The 1,000 plants (1KP) project is an international multi-disciplinary consortium that has generated transcriptome data from over 1,000 plant species, with exemplars for all of the major lineages across the Viridi...
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Article
Open AccessA genome triplication associated with early diversification of the core eudicots
Although it is agreed that a major polyploidy event, gamma, occurred within the eudicots, the phylogenetic placement of the event remains unclear.
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Article
Heterologous expression of two FAD-dependent oxidases with (S)-tetrahydroprotoberberine oxidase activity from Arge mone mexicana and Berberis wilsoniae in insect cells
Berberine, palmatine and dehydrocoreximine are end products of protoberberine biosynthesis. These quaternary protoberberines are elicitor inducible and, like other phytoalexins, are highly oxidized. The oxidat...
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Chapter
Introduction to the Different Classes of Natural Products
Plants produce an enormous variety of natural products with highly diverse structures. These products are commonly termed “secondary metabolites” in contrast to the “primary metabolites” which are essential fo...
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Article
A concerted mechanism for berberine bridge enzyme
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Article
Comparative macroarray analysis of morphine containing Papaver somniferum and eight morphine free Papaver species identifies an O-methyltransferase involved in benzylisoquinoline biosynthesis
Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids constitute a group of about 2,500 structures and are mainly produced by plants of the order Ranunculales. But only the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, and Papaver setigerum are able ...
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Article
Transformation of opium poppy (Papaver somniferumL.) with antisense berberine bridge enzyme gene (anti-bbe) via somatic embryogenesis results in an altered ratio of alkaloids in latex but not in roots
The berberine bridge enzyme cDNA bbe from Papaver somniferumL. was transformed in antisense orientation into seedling explants of the industrial elite line C048-6-14-64. In this way, 84 phenotypically normal T0 p...
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Article
Morphine-pathway block in top1 poppies
This opium poppy mutant provides chemical precursors for non-addictive analgesics.
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Article
Molecular characterization of root-specific chalcone synthases from Cassia alata
Three cDNAs encoding very similar but unique isoforms of chalcone synthase (EC 2.3.1.74) were isolated from a cDNA library prepared from RNA from root tissue of the Thai medicinal plant Cassia alata L. (ringworm...
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Article
Isolation and analysis of a gene bbe1 encoding the berberine bridge enzyme from the California poppy Eschscholzia californica
A genomic clone, bbe1 was isolated that encodes the methyl jasmonate-inducible berberine bridge enzyme of antimicrobial benzophenanthridine alkaloid biosynthesis in the California poppy Eschscholzia californic...
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Chapter
Molecular Genetic Techniques Applied to the Analysis of Enzymes of Alkaloid Biosynthesis
The use of indigenous plants in traditional medicine is a practice which is older than even that of agriculture. In much of the world of today, these medicines are the only ones which are readily available. Th...
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Article
Polymerase chain reaction comparison of the gene for strictosidine synthase from ten Rauvolfia species
The gene for strictosidine synthase, str1, has been analyzed by the polymerase chain reaction in ten species of Rauvolfia, the origins of which span the tropical belt: R. cambodiana (Indochina), R. canescens (Ind...
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Article
Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Neurospora crassa contain heavy metal sequestering phytochelatin
In fungi, cellular resistance to heavy metal cytotoxicity is mediated either by binding of metal ions to proteins of the metallothionein type or by chelation to phytochelatin-peptides of the general formula (γ...
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Chapter
Alkaloids: A New Target for Molecular Biology
We encounter many alkaloids in our everyday lives in the foods we eat and in the beverages we drink. Relatively little is known about the biosynthesis of these alkaloids at the enzyme level and virtually nothi...
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Article
Implication of tyramine in the biosynthesis of morphinan alkaloids in Papaver
Doubly-labeled [3H, 14C]tyrosines, [1-13C-]tyramine or [2-14C]tyramine, administered to the stems of intact Papaver somniferum L. plants, were found to be incorporated into the morphinan alkaloids of the plant wi...
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Article
Correlation of the appearance of morphinan alkaloids and laticifer cells in germinating Papaver bracteatum seedlings
The course of alkaloid accumulation and laticifer cell appearance was compared in germinating P. bracteatum seedlings. Seedlings of various ages (0–14 days old) were analyzed for their dopamine, thebaine, morphin...
