Skip Navigation


JXB Advance Access originally published online on July 28, 2003
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
54/390/2065    most recent
erg227v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (13)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rothe, G.
Right arrow Articles by Dräger, B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Rothe, G.
Right arrow Articles by Dräger, B.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Rothe, G.
Right arrow Articles by Dräger, B.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 54, No. 390, pp. 2065-2070, September 1, 2003
© 2003 Oxford University Press

Alkaloids in plants and root cultures of Atropa belladonna overexpressing putrescine N-methyltransferase

Received 14 February 2003; Accepted 3 June 2003

Grit Rothe1, Akira Hachiya2, Yasuyuki Yamada2, Takashi Hashimoto2 and Birgit Dräger*,1

1 Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Hoher Weg 8, D-06120 Halle/Saale, Germany
2 Graduate School of Biological Sciences, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, 8916-5 Takayama-cho, Ikoma, Nara 630-0192, Japan

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Fax: +49 345 55 27 021. E-mail: draeger{at}pharmazie.uni-halle.de

Putrescine N-methyltransferase (PMT) is the first alkaloid-specific enzyme for nicotine and tropane alkaloid formation. The pmt gene from Nicotiana tabacum was fused to the CaMV 35S promoter and integrated into the Atropa belladonna genome. Transgenic plants and derived root cultures were analysed for gene expression and for levels of alkaloids and their precursors. Scopolamine, hyoscyamine, tropine, pseudotropine, tropinone, and calystegines were found unaltered or somewhat decreased in pmt-overexpressing lines compared to controls. When root cultures were treated with 5% sucrose, calystegine levels were elevated in control roots, but were not affected in pmt-overexpressing roots. 1 µM auxin reduced calystegine levels in control roots, while in pmt-overexpressing roots all alkaloids remained unaltered. Expression level of pmt alone is apparently not limiting for tropane alkaloid formation in A. belladonna.

Key words: Atropa belladonna, calystegine, hyoscyamine, overexpression, putrescine N-methyltransferase, scopolamine, tropane alkaloids.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J Exp BotHome page
S. T. Hakkinen, E. Moyano, R. M. Cusido, J. Palazon, M. T. Pinol, and K.-M. Oksman-Caldentey
Enhanced secretion of tropane alkaloids in Nicotiana tabacum hairy roots expressing heterologous hyoscyamine-6{beta}-hydroxylase
J. Exp. Bot., October 1, 2005; 56(420): 2611 - 2618.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Exp BotHome page
U. Richter, G. Rothe, A.-K. Fabian, B. Rahfeld, and B. Drager
Overexpression of tropinone reductases alters alkaloid composition in Atropa belladonna root cultures
J. Exp. Bot., February 1, 2005; 56(412): 645 - 652.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Exp BotHome page
O. Fliniaux, F. Mesnard, S. Raynaud-Le Grandic, S. Baltora-Rosset, C. Bienaime, R. J. Robins, and M.-A. Fliniaux
Altered nitrogen metabolism associated with de-differentiated suspension cultures derived from root cultures of Datura stramonium studied by heteronuclear multiple bond coherence (HMBC) NMR spectroscopy
J. Exp. Bot., May 1, 2004; 55(399): 1053 - 1060.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.