Biologists from the University of York (UK) have discovered enzymes that catalyze the biosynthesis of alkaloids in a number ...

Plants make substances called alkaloids to protect themselves, and humans have long taken advantage of these chemicals, using ...

A research team has uncovered and rebuilt a previously elusive plant pathway that produces oxindole alkaloids—a rare and ...

Scorpion venom packs more than a painful sting. It’s also chock full of novel bioactive compounds—most of them polypeptides—that intrigue scientists. For the first time, researchers have identified an ...

Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs) represent a diverse group of plant secondary metabolites that are of profound pharmacological importance. These compounds, which include opiates, antimicrobial ...

What does cannabis, coca leaf, and all coffee have in common? They all contain alkaloids, a powerful group of medicinal compounds found in plants around the world. While little is presently known ...

Complex polycylic structures are found in nearly every biosynthetic class of natural products. In particular, an amazing range of rigid densely functionalized polycylic compounds are formed from ...

Camellia ptilophylla, a low-caffeine or decaffeinated tea, is increasingly being recognized for its potential health benefits. However, there is intraspecific diversity in purine alkaloid and ...

Cocaine is one of the most commonly used (and abused) plant-derived drugs in the world, but we have almost no modern information on how plants produce this complex alkaloid. Researchers have just ...

Figure 1: A summary of the biosynthetic pathway leading to morphine, showing also the methylated derivatives of reticuline; enzymes indicated are those for which cDNAs have been previously cloned and ...