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Can we harness a plant's ability to synthesize medicinal compounds?

Knowledge could guide development of sustainable production methods for plant-based medicines

Date:
November 24, 2020
Source:
Carnegie Institution for Science
Summary:
Anthraquinones are a class of naturally occurring compounds prized for their medicinal properties, as well as for other applications, including ecologically friendly dyes. Despite wide interest, the mechanism by which plants produce them has remained shrouded in mystery until now. New work reveals a gene responsible for anthraquinone synthesis in plants. Their findings could help scientists cultivate a plant-based mechanism for harvesting these useful compounds in bulk quantities.
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Anthraquinones are a class of naturally occurring compounds prized for their medicinal properties, as well as for other applications, including ecologically friendly dyes. Despite wide interest, the mechanism by which plants produce them has remained shrouded in mystery until now.

New work from an international team of scientists including Carnegie's Sue Rhee reveals a gene responsible for anthraquinone synthesis in plants. Their findings could help scientists cultivate a plant-based mechanism for harvesting these useful compounds in bulk quantities.

"Senna tora is a legume with anthraquinone-based medicinal properties that have long been recognized in ancient Chinese and Ayurvedic traditions, including antimicrobial and antiparasitic benefits, as well as diabetes and neurodegenerative disease prevention," Rhee explained.

Despite its extensive practical applications, genomic studies of Senna have been limited. So, led by Sang-Ho Kang of the Korean National Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Ramesh Prasad Pandey of Sun Moon University and MIT, the research team used an array of sophisticated genetic and biochemical approaches to identify the first known anthranoid-forming enzyme in plants.

"Now that we've established the first step of the ladder, we can move quickly to elucidate the full suite of genes involved in the synthesis of anthraquinone," said lead author Kang.

Once the process by which plants make these important compounds is fully known, this knowledge can be used to engineer a plant to produce high concentrations of anthraquinones that can be used medicinally.

"The same techniques that we use to help improve the yields of agricultural or biofuel crops can also be applied to developing sustainable production methods for plant-based medicines," Rhee concluded.

This work was funded by the National Institute of Agricultural


Story Source:

Materials provided by Carnegie Institution for Science. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Sang-Ho Kang, Ramesh Prasad Pandey, Chang-Muk Lee, Joon-Soo Sim, Jin-Tae Jeong, Beom-Soon Choi, Myunghee Jung, Daniel Ginzburg, Kangmei Zhao, So Youn Won, Tae-Jin Oh, Yeisoo Yu, Nam-Hoon Kim, Ok Ran Lee, Tae-Ho Lee, Puspalata Bashyal, Tae-Su Kim, Woo-Haeng Lee, Charles Hawkins, Chang-Kug Kim, Jung Sun Kim, Byoung Ohg Ahn, Seung Yon Rhee, Jae Kyung Sohng. Genome-enabled discovery of anthraquinone biosynthesis in Senna tora. Nature Communications, 2020; 11 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19681-1

Cite This Page:

Carnegie Institution for Science. "Can we harness a plant's ability to synthesize medicinal compounds?." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 November 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201124152822.htm>.
Carnegie Institution for Science. (2020, November 24). Can we harness a plant's ability to synthesize medicinal compounds?. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201124152822.htm
Carnegie Institution for Science. "Can we harness a plant's ability to synthesize medicinal compounds?." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201124152822.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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