title: Identification of a low vindoline accumulating cultivar of Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don by alkaloid and enzymatic profiling.
abstract: The Madagascar periwinkle [Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don] is a commercially important horticultural flower species and is the only source of the monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs), vinblastine and vincristine, key pharmaceutical compounds used to combat a number of different cancers. The present study uses high performance liquid chromatography for metabolic profiling of the MIAs extracted from seedlings and young leaves of 50 different flowering cultivars of C. roseus to show that, except for a single low vindoline cultivar (Vinca Mediterranean DP Orchid), they accumulate similar levels of MIAs. Further enzymatic studies with extracts from young leaves and from developing seedlings show that the low vindoline cultivar has a 10-fold lower tabersonine-16-hydroxylase activity than those of C. roseus cv. Little Delicata. It is concluded that rapid metabolic and more selective enzymatic profiling of Catharanthus mutants could be useful for the identification of a range of altered MIA biosynthesis lines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Brock University, 500 Glenridge Avenue, St. Catharines, Ont., Canada L2S 3A1.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Magnotta
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.forename: Jianxin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: De Luca
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000378:metabolism*; D030008:Catharanthus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / Q000378:metabolism; D006899:Mixed Function Oxygenases / Q000378:metabolism; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins; D036226:Seedlings / Q000378:metabolism; D014747:Vinblastine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D014748:Vinca Alkaloids / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014748:Vinca Alkaloids; C009667:vindoline; D014747:Vinblastine; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System; D006899:Mixed Function Oxygenases; C121596:CYP71D12 protein, Catharanthus roseus; C017836:catharanthine