Tag: Biochemistry

For more than two centuries, quinine from Cinchona bark has stood as one of the best-known plant-derived medicines for malaria treatment, but the enzymes that build its distinctive scaffold were unknown. Lombe et al. have now resolved the core logic of cinchona alkaloid biosynthesis in Cinchona pubescens,…

This review, by Tadao Asami, looks back at his career as a scientist who designs and synthesizes small, physiologically active molecules with applications in research and agriculture.  It’s an impressive history documenting how the methods used for such rational design have evolved over the past five…

Environmental stimuli, such as drought and salinity, alter cellular conditions including apoplastic pH (pHApo) in plants. These stimuli often lead to an elevation in pHApo which is closely associated with cell functions and plant growth. However, the mechanism behind is largely unexplored. A recent study…

One of the great dilemmas of science is the fact that nitrogen gas, though very abundant in the atmosphere, is limiting for most forms of life. Of course, this lack of availability is because N2 gas has an extremely strong triple bond holding the two nitrogen atoms together; it’s so strong that N2…

From an ancient Greek cure-all to a modern treatment for mild depression, Hypericum perforatum (St. John’s wort) is a fascinating weed. Its leaves and flowers produce hyperforin, a metabolite derived from the isoprenoid pathway, which acts as a serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Despite partial genome and…

Certain human neurodegenerative disorders are caused by aggregation of disordered proteins. In particular, Huntington’s disease is caused by aggregation of a protein called huntingtin, which contains long stretches of glutamine (Q). Llama et al. observed that proteins with long stretches of glutamine…

In my cruise around the internet looking for fascinating plant science, I found this tasty morsel. It’s a Spotlight feature of new paper on the effects of salt stress on plants of the genus Capsicum. I don’t want to detract from author Robert Calderon’s fine writing, so head over to Physiologia…