Cactus dreams: Revealing the secrets of mescaline making
In a new study published in Molecular Plant, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers have made the first, crucial move toward ensuring sustainable production of mescaline: They have revealed, step by step, how exactly it is manufactured in peyote. “Learning how to copy this natural process with biotechnology will help ensure a steady supply of mescaline for the development of new psychiatric drugs,” says Dr. Shirley (Paula) Berman, who led this research in Prof. Asaph Aharoni’s lab in Weizmann’s Plant and Environmental Sciences Department.
In the new study, Berman and colleagues started out by deciphering the entire genome of the peyote cactus, determining which genes are expressed in which parts of the plant, particularly in the outer layers of its crown, called the button, where the highest concentration of mescaline was measured. Using mass spectroscopy, they then identified a series of candidate molecules that were possibly involved in mescaline production. They also selected candidate genes for each type of enzyme having the potential for catalyzing the relevant biochemical reactions and tested their activities after expressing each gene in bacteria, yeast or model plants. With this knowledge in hand, they completed the puzzle by reconstructing the entire pathway of mescaline manufacture in peyote.
Original Article (Phys.org & Cell.com):
Cactus dreams: revealing the secrets of mescaline making & The biosynthetic pathway of the hallucinogen mescaline and its heterologous reconstruction
Artwork Fair Use: Public domain
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