Stereochemical Insights into Sarpagan and Akuammiline Alkaloid Biosynthesis
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract The Apocynaceae family produces a diverse array of monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs) with significant pharmaceutical value. Among these, sarpagan and akuammiline alkaloids stand out for their complex stereochemistry, derived from the enzymatic cyclization and rearrangement of geissoschizine. This study investigates the stereochemical outcomes of sarpagan bridge enzymes (SBEs) and rhazimal synthases (RHS), key players in geissoschizine cyclization and MIA diversification. Using two known and five newly identified enzymes from six plant species, we show that RHS enzymes from Alstonia scholaris , Vinca minor , and Amsonia tabernaemontana exclusively produce the 16 R rhazimal stereoisomer. Meanwhile, SBEs from Catharanthus roseus , Tabernaemontana elegans , Vinca minor , and Rauvolfia serpentina likely generate 16 R polyneuridine aldehyde; however, downstream aldehyde reductase, deformylase, and esterase activities further epimerize and alter the C16 stereochemistry, yielding naturally occurring alkaloids with distinct C16 stereochemistry across species. These findings, supported by in vitro assays and in planta silencing of C. roseus CrSBE after we reroute biosynthetic flux toward mutated sarpagan MIAs, further reveal enzymatic control over C16 stereochemistry in sarpagan MIA biosynthesis. By elucidating the transformation of diastereomeric intermediates, this work provides key insights into the stereochemical and enzymatic diversification of MIAs in nature.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".