title: Occurrence of nudicaulin structural variants in flowers of papaveraceous species.
abstract: The intense color of yellow Papaver nudicaule flowers is conferred by the presence of nudicaulins, a group of alkaloids with a unique pentacyclic skeleton composed of an indole ring and a polyphenolic moiety. Petals from eight different Papaveraceae species composed of different color varieties were probed for the presence of nudicaulins. In addition to their occurrence in yellow P. nudicaule flowers, nudicaulins I-VIII were detected and quantified in orange flowers of P. nudicaule, and in yellow and orange Papaver alpinum flowers. Meconopsis cambrica petals showed a divergent nudicaulin spectrum, with compounds having an attached 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl group (HMG) instead of a malonyl unit at one of the glucose units. Flavonols and anthocyanins that accompany nudicaulins were identified. The taxonomical significance of the occurrence of nudicaulins is briefly discussed.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Strasse 8, Beutenberg Campus, D-07745 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Evangelos C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Tatsis
authors.forename: Hartmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Böhm
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schneider
mesh_terms: D035264:Flowers / Q000737:chemistry*; D026121:Indole Alkaloids / Q000737:chemistry*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D028101:Papaveraceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000737:chemistry*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D026121:Indole Alkaloids; D010860:Pigments, Biological