Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena are investigating the previously largely unknown biosynthetic pathway that leads to the formation of cardenolides in plants.
In addition to foxglove Digitalis purpurea, the research team also studied another
The starting point for the study was earlier work in a related species of foxglove, which suggested that the biosynthesis occurred via the molecule pregnenolone, sometimes referred to as the"mother of all steroid hormones" because all major steroid hormones such as testosterone, progesterone and estrogen in humans can be traced back to the precursor pregnenolone.
Finally, two enzymes of the cytochrome P450 family 87A were identified that catalyze the conversion of both cholesterol and phytosterols into pregnenolone in foxglove and Calotropis procera. This was the first step in the cardenolide biosynthetic pathway in these two only distantly related plants. Importantly, this is the first enzymatic function reported for this subfamily of cytochrome P450.
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