Biosynthetic Pathways of Ergot Alkaloids

Toxins

Nina Gerhards²  Lisa Neubauer¹  Paul Tudzynski¹  Shu-Ming Li² 

[1] Institut für Biologie und Biotechnologie der Pflanzen, Westfälische Wilhelms Universität Münster, Schlossplatz 8, D-48143 Münster, Germany; E-Mails:;Philipps-Universität Marburg, Institut für Pharmazeutische Biologie und Biotechnologie, Deutschhausstrasse 17A, D-35037 Marburg, Germany; E-Mail:

关键词: ergot alkaloids;    biosynthetic pathway;    secondary metabolism;    natural products;    fungi;    mycotoxins;   

DOI  :  10.3390/toxins6123281

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Ergot alkaloids are nitrogen-containing natural products belonging to indole alkaloids. The best known producers are fungi of the phylum Ascomycota, e.g., Claviceps, Epichloë, Penicillium and Aspergillus species. According to their structures, ergot alkaloids can be divided into three groups: clavines, lysergic acid amides and peptides (ergopeptines). All of them share the first biosynthetic steps, which lead to the formation of the tetracyclic ergoline ring system (except the simplest, tricyclic compound: chanoclavine). Different modifications on the ergoline ring by specific enzymes result in an abundance of bioactive natural products, which are used as pharmaceutical drugs or precursors thereof. From the 1950s through to recent years, most of the biosynthetic pathways have been elucidated. Gene clusters from several ergot alkaloid producers have been identified by genome mining and the functions of many of those genes have been demonstrated by knock-out experiments or biochemical investigations of the overproduced enzymes.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.