Catharanthus roseus, terpenoid indole

Catharanthus roseus, biosynthesis of terpenoid indole alkaloids in, 49, 222 (1997) Celastraceae alkaloids, 16, 215 (1977)... 

Geerlings A, Martinez-Lozano Ibanez M, Memelink J, van der Heijden R, Verpoorte R (2000) The strictosidine 6-D-glucosidase gene from Catharanthus roseus is regulated coordinately with other terpenoid-indole alkaloid biosynthetic genes and the encoded enzyme is located in the endoplasmic reticulum. J Biol Chem 275 3051-3056... 

Verpoorte R, van der Heijden R and Moreno PRH (1997) Biosynthesis of terpenoid indole alkaloids in Catharanthus roseus cells. The Alkaloids, Chemistry and Pharmacology (ed Cordell GA) Vol 49. Academic, San Diego, pp 221-299. 

Cathenamine (100) has been identified as an early intermediate in terpenoid indole alkaloid biosynthesis (cf. Vol. 8, p. 27). It has also been isolated from Guettarda eximia. Another alkaloid, 4,21-dehydrogeissoschizine (99), has now been isolated from this plant it is readily converted into (100) in alkaline solution.29 On incubation with an enzyme preparation from Catharanthus roseus cell cultures in the presence of NADPH at pH 7, (99) was converted into ajmalicine (102), 19-ep/-ajmalicine (103), and tetrahydroalstonine (104), which are the normal products with this enzyme preparation. In the absence of NADPH, cathenamine (100) accumulated.30 The reaction to give (100) proceeded linearly with time, and was dependent on the concentration of protein and substrate. No conversion occurred in the absence of enzyme. 

Terpenoid Indole Alkaloids.—Current knowledge on the biosynthesis of terpenoid indole alkaloids, with particular emphasis on the very important results obtained with enzyme preparations from tissue cultures of Catharanthus roseus, has been authoritatively reviewed.53 Further work on cell lines of C. roseus that are able to produce Aspidosperma-type alkaloids has been published54 (cf. Vol. 11, p. 19). 

Figure 7.9 Intercellular and subcellular trafficking in alkaloid biosynthesis. A. Tropane alkaloid biosynthesis in Hyoscyamus muticus. B. Terpenoid indole alkaloid biosynthesis in Catharanthus roseus. C. Trafficking of the berberine bridge enzyme in Papaver somniferum cell cultures.

GEERLINGS, A., MARTINEZ-LOZANO IBANEZ, M., MEMELINK, J., VAN DER HEIJDEN, R., VERPOORT, R., Molecular cloning and analysis of strictosidine P-D-glucosidase, an enzyme in terpenoid indole alkaloid biosynthesis in Catharanthus roseus. J. Biol. Chem., 2000,275,3051-3056. 

MENKE, F.L., PARCHMANN, S., MUELLER, M.J., KUNE, J.W., MEMELINK, J., Involvement of the octadecanoid pathway and protein phosphoiylation in fungal elicitor-induced expression of terpenoid indole alkaloid biosynthetic genes in Catharanthus roseus. Plant Physiol., 1999,119, 1289-1296. 

MEIJER, A.H., VERPOORTE, R., HOGE, J.H.C., Regulation of enzymes and genes involved in terpenoid indole alkaloid biosynthesis in Catharanthus roseus. J. Plant Res., 1993, Special Issue 3, 145-164. 

Isolation of the stereospecific strictosidine s)mthase (STS) and formation of strictosidine with the 3a-(S) configuration proved conclusively that this was the natural precursor of the terpenoid indole alkaloids. Strictosidine occurs naturally in Rhazya stricta and the synthase has been isolated from a number of other species Amsonia salicifolia, A. tabemaemontam, Catharanthus pusillus, C. roseus, Rauvolfia verticillata, R. vomitoria, R. serpentina, Rhazya orientalis and Voacanga africana. The enzyme has been purified to homogeneity from R. serpentina (Hampp and Zenk, 1988). A comparison of the activity of STS from C. roseus roots, the only portion of the plant to contain ajmalicine, with that present in plant cell cultures producing the same alkaloid demonstrated that the plant cell cultures are far more metabolically active (Ziegler and Facchini, 2008). 

Rischer, H., Oresic, M., Seppanen-Laakso, T., Katajamaa, M., Lammertyn, R, Ardiles-Diaz, W., von Montagu, M.C.E., Inze, D., Oksman-Caldentey, K.-M. and Goosens, A. (2006) Gene-to-metabolite networks for terpenoid indole alkaloid biosynthesis in Catharanthus roseus cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 103,5614—9. 

The terpenoid indole alkaloids have a variety of chemical structures and a wealth of biologic activities (Fig. 2a) (59, 60). Terpenoid indole alkaloids are used as anticancer, antimalarial, and antiarrhythmic agents. Although many biosynthetic genes from this pathway remain unidentified, recent studies have correlated terpenoid indole alkaloid production with the transcript profiles of Catharanthus roseus cell cultures (61). 

Terpenoid Indole Alkaloids.—Crude preparations from Catharanthus roseus seedlings and from tissue cultures have been shown to be capable of synthesizing in good yield from tryptamine (110) and secologanin (111) with added co-factors, geisso-schizine (112) and ajmalicine (113), representatives of the first major class of terpenoid indole alkaloids (Corynanthe). Geissoschizine was metabolized to ajmalicine and several other unidentified alkaloids (for reviews of biosynthesis in intact plants see ref. 106). The catabolic turnover of vindoline and catharanthine in C. roseus has been studied. ... 

Fig. (4). Early steps of the biosynthesis of terpenoid indole alkaloids in Catharanthus roseus. Triple arrowheads indicate multiple steps. G10H geraniol 16-hydroxylase TDC tryptophan decarboxylase STR strictosidine synthase.

BIOSYNTHESIS OF TERPENOID INDOLE ALKALOIDS IN Catharanthus roseus CELLS... 

In the present review we divide the pathway leading to the Catharanthus alkaloids into five parts (Fig. 2). The first two concern the biosynthesis of tryptophan and geraniol diphosphate they are similar to (or even part of) primary metabolism and occur in all plant species. Whether these pathways in C. roseus are differently regulated, or whether even an additional pathway exists parallel to the normal primary metabolism, is a question not yet answered. The third and the fourth part coneern the steps from tryptophan to tryptamine and from geraniol to secologanin, respectively. Both pathways occur also in other plants, including plants that do not produce terpenoid indole alkaloids. The fifth part is the condensation of secologanin and tryptamine to strictosidine and the subsequent conversion into a plethora... 

Indicative Range of Activities of Some Enzymes Involved in the Biosynthesis of Terpenoid Indole Alkaloids in Catharanthus roseus Suspension-Cultured Cells"... 

O. J. M. Goddijn, Regulation of terpenoid indole alkaloid biosynthesis in Catharanthus roseus." Ph.D. Thesis, Leiden University, 1992. 

G. Pasquali, Regulation of the terpenoid indole alkaloid biosynthetic gene strictosidine synthase from Catharanthus roseus. Ph.D. Thesis, Leiden University, 1994. 

The enzyme strictosidine synthase (EC 4.3.3.2) is responsible for the stereospecific coupling of tryptamine and secologanin, yielding strictosidine (Fig. 12). This glucoalkaloid is the precursor for all terpenoid indole and related alkaloids, including among others the Cinchona quinoline alkaloids. Hampp and Zenk (707) isolated and purified this enzyme to homogeneity from a cell suspension culture of R. serpentina. The enzyme could successfully be immobilized on CNBr-activated Sepharose 4B, as was reported for this enzyme isolated from Catharanthus roseus (102,708). It proved to be more stable than the C. roseus enzyme the half-life of the immobilized enzyme was 100 days at a temperature of 37°C. 

Terpenoid Indole Alkaloids.—It has been confirmed recently for ajmalicine (84), vindoline (89), and catharanthine (90), in Catharanthus roseus Vinca rosea) that strictosidine (79), and not vincoside (86), is the key intermediate in terpenoid alkaloid biosynthesis cf. ref. 9). 

Hong SB, Peebles CAM, Shanks JV, San KY, Gibson SI. Terpenoid indole alkaloid production of Catharanthus roseus hairy roots induced by Agrobacterium tumefa-ciens harboring rol ABC genes. Biotechnol Bioeng 2006 93(2) 386-90. 

Bioproduction of Terpenoid Indole Alkaloids from Catharanthus roseus Cell Cultures... 

Bioproduction Catharanthus roseus in vitro cultures terpenoid indole alkaloids biosynthetic pathways... 

Biotechnology Approaches to Improve Terpenoid Indole Alkaloid Production from Catharanthus roseus In Vitro Cultures... 

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