The Methylation of Nornicotine to Nicotine, a Minor Biosynthetic Pathway in Nicotiana tabacum

The Methylation of Nornicotine to Nicotine, a Minor Biosynthetic Pathway in Nicotiana tabacum

It has been well established that nornicotine is formed in Nicotiana species by the demethylation of nicotine. However, the reverse reaction has not been unequivocally substantiated. This problem has been examined by feeding (RS)-[2'-14C]nornicotine to Nicotiana tabacum plants. Most of the admi...

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Main Author: Leete E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 1984-02-01
Series:Beiträge zur Tabakforschung International
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2478/cttr-2013-0532
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spelling doaj-5f336708f5194795aec5d9ef61e872752021-09-06T19:22:12ZengSciendoBeiträge zur Tabakforschung International1612-92371984-02-0112311311610.2478/cttr-2013-0532The Methylation of Nornicotine to Nicotine, a Minor Biosynthetic Pathway in Nicotiana tabacumLeete E.0Natural Products Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.It has been well established that nornicotine is formed in Nicotiana species by the demethylation of nicotine. However, the reverse reaction has not been unequivocally substantiated. This problem has been examined by feeding (RS)-[2'-14C]nornicotine to Nicotiana tabacum plants. Most of the administered nornicotine was recovered unchanged, but a small amount of activity was detected in the nicotine. Activity was also found in myosmine. The nicotine was degraded and found to have essentially all its radioactivity located at the C-2' position, indicative of a direct synthesis from nornicotine. It has thus been established that the methylation of nornicotine to nicotine does occur in the tobacco plant, but it is not considered to be a major pathway for the biosynthesis of nicotine.https://doi.org/10.2478/cttr-2013-0532
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Leete E.
spellingShingle Leete E.
The Methylation of Nornicotine to Nicotine, a Minor Biosynthetic Pathway in Nicotiana tabacum
Beiträge zur Tabakforschung International
author_facet Leete E.
author_sort Leete E.
title The Methylation of Nornicotine to Nicotine, a Minor Biosynthetic Pathway in Nicotiana tabacum
title_short The Methylation of Nornicotine to Nicotine, a Minor Biosynthetic Pathway in Nicotiana tabacum
title_full The Methylation of Nornicotine to Nicotine, a Minor Biosynthetic Pathway in Nicotiana tabacum
title_fullStr The Methylation of Nornicotine to Nicotine, a Minor Biosynthetic Pathway in Nicotiana tabacum
title_full_unstemmed The Methylation of Nornicotine to Nicotine, a Minor Biosynthetic Pathway in Nicotiana tabacum
title_sort methylation of nornicotine to nicotine, a minor biosynthetic pathway in nicotiana tabacum
publisher Sciendo
series Beiträge zur Tabakforschung International
issn 1612-9237
publishDate 1984-02-01
description It has been well established that nornicotine is formed in Nicotiana species by the demethylation of nicotine. However, the reverse reaction has not been unequivocally substantiated. This problem has been examined by feeding (RS)-[2'-14C]nornicotine to Nicotiana tabacum plants. Most of the administered nornicotine was recovered unchanged, but a small amount of activity was detected in the nicotine. Activity was also found in myosmine. The nicotine was degraded and found to have essentially all its radioactivity located at the C-2' position, indicative of a direct synthesis from nornicotine. It has thus been established that the methylation of nornicotine to nicotine does occur in the tobacco plant, but it is not considered to be a major pathway for the biosynthesis of nicotine.
url https://doi.org/10.2478/cttr-2013-0532
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