J. Hagel, R.A. Groves, K. Kilpatrick, Y. Zhang, C.W. Sensen, S. Ben Shabat, S. Yaron, M. Frederic, P.J. Facchini
Ephedrine alkaloids such as (1S)(2S)-norpseudoephedrine, (1S)(2S)-pseudoephedrine, (1R)(2S)-norephedrine and (1R)(2S)-ephedrine are commercially important amphetamine-like alkaloids present in plants of taxonomically distant families. Ephedra sinica (Ephedraceae) is a gymnosperm widely used in Chinese medicine. Catha edulis (Celastraceae), known by it's common name "khat" is an angiosperm whose leaves are traditionally chewed as a stimulant in the Middle East and Eastern Africa. Very little is known about the mechanisms by which such plants biosynthesize these compounds. We established a comparative functional genomics platform to facilitate the study of the biochemical and molecular mechanisms that direct the accumulation of ephedrine alkaloids. Targeted metabolomic analyses coupled with biochemical and molecular studies have demonstrated that both plants apparently utilize similar biosynthetic pathways for the ephedrine alkaloid biosynthesis. Key enzymes and putative genes involved in ephedrine alkaloid biosynthesis have been identified. The multidisciplinary functional genomics and metabolomic platforms established will contribute to our understanding of the biosynthetic pathway, key enzymatic steps and the regulation of this little studied biosynthetic pathway. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (Grant No. 814/06) and a grant (CA-9117-09) from the Canada-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund.
Spring 2015, including AGFD abstracts for the 249th American Chemical Society National Meeting March 22-26, 2015
J. Hagel, R.A. Groves, K. Kilpatrick, Y. Zhang, C.W. Sensen, S. Ben Shabat, S. Yaron, M. Frederic, P.J. Facchini
Ephedrine alkaloids such as (1S)(2S)-norpseudoephedrine, (1S)(2S)-pseudoephedrine, (1R)(2S)-norephedrine and (1R)(2S)-ephedrine are commercially important amphetamine-like alkaloids present in plants of taxonomically distant families. Ephedra sinica (Ephedraceae) is a gymnosperm widely used in Chinese medicine. Catha edulis (Celastraceae), known by it's common name "khat" is an angiosperm whose leaves are traditionally chewed as a stimulant in the Middle East and Eastern Africa. Very little is known about the mechanisms by which such plants biosynthesize these compounds. We established a comparative functional genomics platform to facilitate the study of the biochemical and molecular mechanisms that direct the accumulation of ephedrine alkaloids. Targeted metabolomic analyses coupled with biochemical and molecular studies have demonstrated that both plants apparently utilize similar biosynthetic pathways for the ephedrine alkaloid biosynthesis. Key enzymes and putative genes involved in ephedrine alkaloid biosynthesis have been identified. The multidisciplinary functional genomics and metabolomic platforms established will contribute to our understanding of the biosynthetic pathway, key enzymatic steps and the regulation of this little studied biosynthetic pathway. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (Grant No. 814/06) and a grant (CA-9117-09) from the Canada-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund.
Spring 2015, including AGFD abstracts for the 249th American Chemical Society National Meeting March 22-26, 2015