n methylcoclaurine/オウレン属

Coptis japonica (Cj) rhizomes are used as a crude drug for gastroenteritis, since they accumulate antimicrobial berberine. Berberine also shows various useful bioactivities, including cholesterol-lowering activity. Unfortunately, Cj is a slow-growing plant and more than 5 years are required to

S-adenosyl-L-methionine:3'-hydroxy-N-methylcoclaurine 4'-O-methyltransferase (4'-OMT) catalyzes the conversion of 3'-hydroxy-N-methylcoclaurine to reticuline, an important intermediate in synthesizing isoquinoline alkaloids. In an earlier step in the biosynthetic pathway to reticuline, another

Selected cultured Coptis japonica cells produce a large amount of the benzylisoquinoline alkaloid berberine. Previous studies have suggested that berberine productivity is controlled at the transcript level of biosynthetic genes. We have identified a regulator of transcription in berberine

Two cytochrome P450 (P450) cDNAs involved in the biosynthesis of berberine, an antimicrobial benzylisoquinoline alkaloid, were isolated from cultured Coptis japonica cells and characterized. A sequence analysis showed that one C. japonica P450 (designated CYP719) belonged to a novel P450 family.

Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids are one of the most important secondary metabolite groups, and include the economically important analgesic morphine and the antimicrobial agent berberine. To improve the production of these alkaloids, we investigated the effect of the overexpression of putative

Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) produces a large number of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, including morphine and sanguinarine, derived from tyrosine via the branch-point intermediate (S)-reticuline. Molecular clones for the three methlytransferases involved in (S)-reticuline biosynthesis,

(S)-stylopine is an important intermediate in the biosynthesis of benzophenanthridine alkaloids, such as sanguinarine. Stylopine biosynthesis involves the sequential formation of two methylenedioxy bridges. Although the methylenedioxy bridge-forming P450 (CYP719) involved in berberine biosynthesis

S-adenosyl-L-methionine:coclaurine N-methyltransferase (CNMT) converts coclaurine to N-methylcoclaurine in isoquinoline alkaloid biosynthesis. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of Coptis CNMT was used to amplify the corresponding cDNA fragment and later to isolate full-length cDNA using 5'- and