BIOSYNTHESIS OF HYGRINE FROM ORNITHINE VIA A SYMMETRICAL INTERMEDIATE IN NICANDRA PHYSALOIDES

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/S0031-9422(00)83160-X

Radioactive hygrine (2.2 percent incorporation) was isolated from Nicandra physaloides plants which had been fed DL-<5-14C>ornithine.A systematic degradation of the hygrine yielded products whose activity was consistent with the pyrrolidine ring of this alkaloid being labeled equally at the C-2 and C-5 positions.The result does not agree with the previous work of O'Donovan and Keogh, whose publication is critically examined.Key Word Index - Nicandra physaloides; Solanaceae; biosynthesis; ornithine; hygrine.