Aromatische Prenyltransferasen aus Hypericum-Arten (English shop)

Biosynthese (poly-)prenylierter Acylphloroglucin-Derivate im Johanniskraut

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Polycyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinols (PPAPs) are a group of plant secondary metabolites characterised by complex molecular structures and a wide range of interesting bioactivities. From the current scientific perspective, hyperforin – probably the best-studied PPAP and the main constituent of the medicinal plant St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) – is credited with a central role in the antidepressant efficacy of St. John’s wort extracts as well as with further promising pharmacological properties. Given the rising number and projected increase of mental illnesses, the demand for St. John’s wort, and for hyperforin in particular, cannot be met through cultivation or elaborate and thus far uneconomical total syntheses; a possible biotechnological production therefore attracts great interest. A prerequisite for this is the discovery and utilisation of the enzymes involved in the hyperforin biosynthetic pathway, which is largely based on predictions. The present dissertation deals with the search for, identification, molecular biological investigation and functional analysis of aromatic secondary metabolism prenyltransferases from H. perforatum involved in this pathway. Knowledge of their genetic information and of the enzymatic functions of the corresponding gene products forms the basis for the future implementation of a possible “green synthesis” of hyperforin and related bioactive natural products in homologous or adequate production systems.