76554-02-4Relevant academic research and scientific papers
ISOLATION OF THE INTERMEDIATES AND RELATED METABOLITES OF SHIKONIN BIOSYNTHESIS FROM LITHOSPERMUM ERYTHRORHIZON CELL CULTURES
Yazaki, Kazufumi,Fukui, Hiroshi,Tabata, Mamoru
, p. 2290 - 2293 (2007/10/02)
Compounds biogenetically related to shikonin in both the shikonin-producing and nonproducing cell suspension cultures of Lithospermum erythrorhizon were investigated to compare their secondary metabolism.From the shikonin-producing cultures two intermediates of shikonin biosynthesis, m-geranyl-p-hydroxybenzoic acid and geranylhydroquinone, and two shikonin-related metabolites, shikonofuran E and a new compound named deoxyshikonofuran were isolated.On the other hand, only m-geranyl-p-hydroxybenzoic acid was isolated from the cultures that did not produce shikonin.This suggests that a biosynthetic step leading to geranylhydroquinone from m-geranyl-p-hydroxybenzoic acid through decarboxylation is repressed in these cultures.KEYWORDS - Lithospermum erythrorhizon; Boraginaceae; plant tissue culture; biosynthesis; m-geranyl-p-hydroxybenzoic acid; geranylhydroquinone; shikonofuran E; deoxyshikonofuran
