Worldwide, there are plants known as psychoactive plants that naturally contain psychedelic active components. They have a high concentration of neuroprotective substances that can interact with the nervous system to produce psychedelic effects. Despite these plants' hazardous potential, recreational use of them is on the rise because of their psychoactive properties. Early neuroscience studies relied heavily on psychoactive plants and plant natural products (NPs), and both recreational and hazardous NPs have contributed significantly to the understanding of almost all neurotransmitter systems. Worldwide, there are many plants that contain psychoactive properties, and people have been using them for ages. Psychoactive plant compounds may significantly alter how people perceive the world.
1. Metabolites. 2022 Nov 25;12(12):1181. doi: 10.3390/metabo12121181. Metabolic Engineering of Nicotiana benthamiana to Produce Cannabinoid Precursors and Their Analogues. Reddy VA(1), Leong SH(1), Jang IC(1)(2), Rajani S(1). Author information: (1)Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, 1 Research Link, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117604, Singapore. (2)Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore. In recent years, the perspective towards the use of cannabis has slowly shifted from being an illicit drug to a medicinal plant. The pathway and enzymes involved in the production of cannabinoids are known; however, studies evaluating the production of cannabinoids in heterologous plants and cell cultures are still limited. In this study, we assessed the potential use of N. benthamiana (Nicotiana benthamiana) plants as a heterologous host for producing natural and novel cannabinoids. Transgenic N. benthamiana plants expressing genes encoding cannabis acyl-activating enzyme and olivetol synthase were generated, which were then used for transiently expressing other downstream pathway genes. Production of olivetolic acid and divarinic acid, the universal precursors for major and minor cannabinoids, respectively, was observed in transgenic N. benthamiana plants. To produce novel cannabinoid precursors with different side chains, various fatty acids were infiltrated into the transgenic N. benthamiana plants and the production of novel derivatives was observed. Although we were not able to derive the core intermediate, cannabigerolic acid, from our transgenic plants, possibly due to the low production levels of the precursors, our transgenics plants still serve as a high-potential platform for further development and exploring the N. benthamiana chemical space for generating novel cannabinoids. DOI: 10.3390/metabo12121181 PMCID: PMC9786632 PMID: 36557219 Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.