Secondary metabolism articles within Nature

Featured

  • Article |

    Arabidopsis thaliana UMAMIT uniporters facilitate glucosinolate efflux from biosynthetic cells along the electrochemical gradient into the apoplast, in which the high-affinity H+-coupled glucosinolate importers GLUCOSINOLATE TRANSPORTERS (GTRs) load them into the phloem for translocation to the seeds.

    • Deyang Xu
    • , Niels Christian Holm Sanden
    •  & Barbara Ann Halkier

  • Article |

    Discovery of a near-complete colchicine biosynthetic pathway enables the engineered production of the tropolone-containing alkaloid N-formyldemecolcine from amino acid precursors in Nicotiana benthamiana.

    • Ryan S. Nett
    • , Warren Lau
    •  & Elizabeth S. Sattely

  • Letter |

    A structurally unusual zwitterionic metabolite, dimethylsulfoxonium propionate (DMSOP), is synthesized by several dimethylsulfoniopropionate-producing microalgae and marine bacteria and is readily metabolized into dimethylsulfoxide by marine bacteria, expanding our knowledge of the marine organosulfur cycle.

    • Kathleen Thume
    • , Björn Gebser
    •  & Georg Pohnert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Eucalyptus grandis genome has been sequenced, revealing the greatest number of tandem duplications of any plant genome sequenced so far, and the highest diversity of genes for specialized metabolites that act as chemical defence and provide unique pharmaceutical oils; genome sequencing of the sister species E. globulus and a set of inbred E. grandis tree genomes reveals dynamic genome evolution and hotspots of inbreeding depression.

    • Alexander A. Myburg
    • , Dario Grattapaglia
    •  & Jeremy Schmutz

  • Letter |

    Disruption of lignin biosynthesis has been proposed as a way to improve forage and bioenergy crops, but it can result in stunted growth and developmental abnormalities; here, the undesirable features of one such manipulation are shown to depend on the transcriptional co-regulatory complex Mediator.

    • Nicholas D. Bonawitz
    • , Jeong Im Kim
    •  & Clint Chapple

  • Letter |

    Plants defend themselves against attackers by producing bioactive secondary metabolites such as triterpene saponins; here, the endoplasmic-reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD) system is shown to control the activity of HMGR, the rate-limiting enzyme in the supply of the terpene precursor isopentenyl diphosphate, thereby preventing unrestrained saponin production and ensuring the integrity of plant development.

    • Jacob Pollier
    • , Tessa Moses
    •  & Alain Goossens

  • Letter |

    Until now, dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP), an important component in the sulphur cycle, has been thought to be produced solely by algae and some plants; however, this study shows that the coral animal also produces DMSP, in addition to that produced by the coral’s algal symbiont, with potential implications for the sulphur cycle and its climatic consequences as corals and their symbionts are affected by global change.

    • Jean-Baptiste Raina
    • , Dianne M. Tapiolas
    •  & Cherie A. Motti

  • Letter |

    Two high-affinity proton-dependent transporters of glucosinolates have been identified in Arabidopsis and termed GTR1 and GTR2; these transporters are essential for transporting glucosinolates to seeds, offering a means to control the allocation of defence compounds in a tissue-specific manner, which may have agricultural biotechnology implications.

    • Hussam Hassan Nour-Eldin
    • , Tonni Grube Andersen
    •  & Barbara Ann Halkier

  • News & Views |

    An extension of synthetic biology to a medicinal plant involves the transfer of chlorination equipment from bacteria. This exercise adds implements to the enzymatic toolbox for generating natural products. See Letter p.461

    • Joseph P. Noel

  • Letter |

    Halogen atoms have been observed in several different classes of natural product, but very few halogenated natural products have been isolated from terrestrial plants. These authors show that biosynthetic machinery responsible for chlorination events in bacteria could be introduced into the medicinal plant Catharanthus roseus. Prokaryotic halogenases function within the plant cells to generate chlorinated tryptophan, which is then used by the monoterpene indole alkaloid metabolic pathways to yield chlorinated alkaloids.

    • Weerawat Runguphan
    • , Xudong Qu
    •  & Sarah E. O’Connor

Browse broader subjects

Browse Secondary metabolism across other nature.com journals