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. Metab Eng Commun. 2022 Mar 5;14:e00195. doi: 10.1016/j.mec.2022.e00195. eCollection 2022 Jun. De novo biosynthesis of diverse plant-derived styrylpyrones in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Wu Y(1), Chen MN(2), Li S(1). Author information: (1)Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA. (2)Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA. Plant styrylpyrones exerting well-established neuroprotective properties have attracted increasing attention in recent years. The ability to synthesize each individual styrylpyrone in engineered microorganisms is important to understanding the biological activity of medicinal plants and the complex mixtures they produce. Microbial biomanufacturing of diverse plant-derived styrylpyrones also provides a sustainable and efficient approach for the production of valuable plant styrylpyrones as daily supplements or potential drugs complementary to the prevalent agriculture-based approach. In this study, we firstly demonstrated the heterogenous biosynthesis of two 7,8-saturated styrylpyrones (7,8-dihydro-5,6-dehydrokavain (DDK) and 7,8-dihydroyangonin (DHY)) and two 7,8-unsaturated styrylpyrones (desmethoxyyangonin (DMY) and yangonin (Y)), in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Although plant styrylpyrone biosynthetic pathways have not been fully elucidated, we functionally reconstructed the recently discovered kava styrylpyrone biosynthetic pathway that has high substrate promiscuity in yeast, and combined it with upstream hydroxycinnamic acid biosynthetic pathways to produce diverse plant-derived styrylpyrones without the native plant enzymes. We optimized the de novo pathways by engineering yeast endogenous aromatic amino acid metabolism and endogenous double bond reductases and by CRISPR-mediated δ-integration to overexpress the rate-limiting pathway genes. These combinatorial engineering efforts led to the first three yeast strains that can produce diverse plant-derived styrylpyrones de novo, with the titers of DDK, DMY and Y at 4.40 μM, 1.28 μM and 0.10 μM, respectively. This work has laid the foundation for larger-scale styrylpyrone biomanufacturing and the complete biosynthesis of more complicated plant styrylpyrones. © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of International Metabolic Engineering Society. DOI: 10.1016/j.mec.2022.e00195 PMCID: PMC8917298 PMID: 35287355 Conflict of interest statement: A provisional application for patent has been filed listing Y.W. and S.L. as inventors. 2. Planta Med. 1997 Feb;63(1):70-4. doi: 10.1055/s-2006-957608. Electrospray high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in phytochemical analysis of kava (Piper methysticum) extract. He XG(1), Lin LZ, Lian LZ. Author information: (1)Research Laboratory of Natural Products Chemistry, East Earth Herb Inc., 4091 W. 11th Avenue, Eugene, OR 97402, USA. HPLC coupled with electrospray (ES) MS was used to study a chloroform extract from kava roots ( PIPER METHYSTICUM). A total of thirteen kavalactones and flavokavains were identified. Seven major kavalactones, methysticin, dihydromethysticin, kavain, 7,8-dihydrokavain, 5,6-dehydrokavain, 5,6-dehydromethysticin and yangonin, were easily recognized in the extract by their [M + H] (+) or [M + Na] (+) ions, UV spectra, and retention times, compared with those of standard compounds. Six minor constituents were isolated as our own reference compounds. These constituents were identified by their [M + H] (+) or [M + Na] (+) ions, UV spectra and NMR data as 11 -hydroxy-12-methoxydihydrokavain, 7,8-dihydro-5-hydroxy-kavain, 11,12-dimethoxydihydrokavain, and flavokavains A, B and C. HPLC-ES-MS appears to be a suitable technique for identification of kavalactones and kavachalcones in the kava extract. The method also provides direct guidance for identification of other trace constituents from kava extracts. DOI: 10.1055/s-2006-957608 PMID: 17252331