Characterization of Oxidative Enzymes Involved in the Biosynthesis of Benzylisoquinoline Alkaloids in Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum)

TL;DRAbstract

Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs) are a large group of nitrogen-containing specialized metabolites. Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) is an important pharmaceutical plant and has been cultivated for thousands of years for its analgesic constituents: the morphinan BIAs codeine and morphine. In addition, opium poppy produces other BIAs with biological activities, such as the vasodilator papaverine, the potential anti-cancer drug noscapine and the antimicrobial agent sanguinarine. The objective of this work was to identify and characterize oxidative enzymes involved in BIA biosynthesis, with a specific focus on cytochromes P450 (P450s). The biosynthesis of sanguinarine from (S)-reticuline requires four P450s. Our first objective was to identify these unidentified P450s in opium poppy. Our approach was based on the coordinated induction of all sanguinarine biosynthetic enzyme transcripts and proteins in elicited opium poppy cell suspension cultures. Using data from a previous microarray s

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