Biocatalysts from alkaloid producing plants.

Biocatalysts from alkaloid producing plants. Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2016 Jan 13;31:22-30 Authors: Kries H, O'Connor SE Abstract Metabolic pathways leading to benzylisoquinoline and monoterpene indole alkaloids in plants are revealing remarkable new reactions. Understanding of the enzymes involved in alkaloid biosynthesis provides access to a variety of applications in biocatalysis and bioengineering. In chemo-enzymatic settings, plant biocatalysts can transform medically important scaffolds. Additionally, synthetic biologists are taking alkaloid pathways as templates to assemble pathways in microorganisms that are tailored to the needs of medicinal chemistry. In light of these many recent discoveries, it is expected that plants will continue to be a source of novel biocatalysts for the foreseeable future. PMID: 26773811 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Biology - Category: Biochemistry Authors: Tags: Curr Opin Chem Biol Source Type: research