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Cell Press, Chemistry and Biology, 3(22), p. 336-341, 2015

DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2015.02.006

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Unlocking the Diversity of Alkaloids in Catharanthus roseus: Nuclear Localization Suggests Metabolic Channeling in Secondary Metabolism

Journal article published in 2015 by Anna Stavrinides, Evangelos C. Tatsis, Lorenzo Caputi ORCID, Emilien Foureau, Franziska Kellner, Vincent Courdavault ORCID, Sarah E. O’Connor
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This paper is available in a repository.

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Abstract

The extraordinary chemical diversity of the plant-derived monoterpene indole alkaloids, which include vinblastine, quinine, and strychnine, originates from a single biosynthetic intermediate, strictosidine aglycone. Here we report for the first time the cloning of a biosynthetic gene and characterization of the corresponding enzyme that acts at this crucial branchpoint. This enzyme, an alcohol dehydrogenase homolog, converts strictosidine aglycone to the heteroyohimbine-type alkaloid tetrahydroalstonine. We also demonstrate how this enzyme, which uses a highly reactive substrate, may interact with the upstream enzyme of the pathway.