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Towards a Molecular Understanding of the Biosynthesis of Amaryllidaceae Alkaloids in Support of Their Expanding Medical Use
The alkaloids characteristically produced by the subfamily Amaryllidoideae of the Amaryllidaceae, bulbous plant species that include well know genera such as Narcissus (daffodils) and Galanthus (snowdrops), are a source of new pharmaceutical compounds. Presently, only the Amaryllidaceae alkaloid gal...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI)
2013
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3709753/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23727937 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms140611713 |
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author | Takos, Adam M. Rook, Fred |
author_facet | Takos, Adam M. Rook, Fred |
author_sort | Takos, Adam M. |
collection | PubMed |
description | The alkaloids characteristically produced by the subfamily Amaryllidoideae of the Amaryllidaceae, bulbous plant species that include well know genera such as Narcissus (daffodils) and Galanthus (snowdrops), are a source of new pharmaceutical compounds. Presently, only the Amaryllidaceae alkaloid galanthamine, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor used to treat symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, is produced commercially as a drug from cultivated plants. However, several Amaryllidaceae alkaloids have shown great promise as anti-cancer drugs, but their further clinical development is restricted by their limited commercial availability. Amaryllidaceae species have a long history of cultivation and breeding as ornamental bulbs, and phytochemical research has focussed on the diversity in alkaloid content and composition. In contrast to the available pharmacological and phytochemical data, ecological, physiological and molecular aspects of the Amaryllidaceae and their alkaloids are much less explored and the identity of the alkaloid biosynthetic genes is presently unknown. An improved molecular understanding of Amaryllidaceae alkaloid biosynthesis would greatly benefit the rational design of breeding programs to produce cultivars optimised for the production of pharmaceutical compounds and enable biotechnology based approaches. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-3709753 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2013 |
publisher | Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI) |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-37097532013-07-12 Towards a Molecular Understanding of the Biosynthesis of Amaryllidaceae Alkaloids in Support of Their Expanding Medical Use Takos, Adam M. Rook, Fred Int J Mol Sci Review The alkaloids characteristically produced by the subfamily Amaryllidoideae of the Amaryllidaceae, bulbous plant species that include well know genera such as Narcissus (daffodils) and Galanthus (snowdrops), are a source of new pharmaceutical compounds. Presently, only the Amaryllidaceae alkaloid galanthamine, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor used to treat symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, is produced commercially as a drug from cultivated plants. However, several Amaryllidaceae alkaloids have shown great promise as anti-cancer drugs, but their further clinical development is restricted by their limited commercial availability. Amaryllidaceae species have a long history of cultivation and breeding as ornamental bulbs, and phytochemical research has focussed on the diversity in alkaloid content and composition. In contrast to the available pharmacological and phytochemical data, ecological, physiological and molecular aspects of the Amaryllidaceae and their alkaloids are much less explored and the identity of the alkaloid biosynthetic genes is presently unknown. An improved molecular understanding of Amaryllidaceae alkaloid biosynthesis would greatly benefit the rational design of breeding programs to produce cultivars optimised for the production of pharmaceutical compounds and enable biotechnology based approaches. Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI) 2013-05-31 /pmc/articles/PMC3709753/ /pubmed/23727937 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms140611713 Text en © 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). |
spellingShingle | Review Takos, Adam M. Rook, Fred Towards a Molecular Understanding of the Biosynthesis of Amaryllidaceae Alkaloids in Support of Their Expanding Medical Use |
title | Towards a Molecular Understanding of the Biosynthesis of Amaryllidaceae Alkaloids in Support of Their Expanding Medical Use |
title_full | Towards a Molecular Understanding of the Biosynthesis of Amaryllidaceae Alkaloids in Support of Their Expanding Medical Use |
title_fullStr | Towards a Molecular Understanding of the Biosynthesis of Amaryllidaceae Alkaloids in Support of Their Expanding Medical Use |
title_full_unstemmed | Towards a Molecular Understanding of the Biosynthesis of Amaryllidaceae Alkaloids in Support of Their Expanding Medical Use |
title_short | Towards a Molecular Understanding of the Biosynthesis of Amaryllidaceae Alkaloids in Support of Their Expanding Medical Use |
title_sort | towards a molecular understanding of the biosynthesis of amaryllidaceae alkaloids in support of their expanding medical use |
topic | Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3709753/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23727937 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms140611713 |
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