Journal
PLANTA
Volume 229, Issue 3, Pages 559-568Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00425-008-0847-5
Keywords
Caffeine synthase; Camellia; N-Methyltransferase; Purine alkaloid; Theobromine; Theobromine synthase
Categories
Funding
- Japan Science Society
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine) and theobromine (3,7-dimethylxanthine) are purine alkaloids that are present in high concentrations in plants of some species of Camellia. However, most members of the genus Camellia contain no purine alkaloids. Tracer experiments using [8-C-14]adenine and [8-C-14]theobromine showed that the purine alkaloid pathway is not fully functional in leaves of purine alkaloid-free species. In five species of purine alkaloid-free Camellia plants, sufficient evidence was obtained to show the occurrence of genes that are homologous to caffeine synthase. Recombinant enzymes derived from purine alkaloid-free species showed only theobromine synthase activity. Unlike the caffeine synthase gene, these genes were expressed more strongly in mature tissue than in young tissue.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available