Ryan M. Alam

The floral illusion: A parasitic beetle mimics the scent of flowers to attract bees

The paper shows that beetle larvae mimic floral scents to attract bees by biosynthesizing volatile compounds similar to those of flowers.

Conserved early steps of stemmadenine biosynthesis

The paper identifies and characterizes stemmadenine acetate pathway genes from Tabernanthe iboga, reconstitutes the biosynthesis in Nicotiana benthamiana, and identifies shunt products affecting pathway flux.

Discovery of iridoid cyclase completes the iridoid pathway in asterids

The paper identifies an enzyme, ICYC, that catalyzes the cyclization of an enol intermediate in the iridoid biosynthesis pathway in asterids, completing the pathway and enabling metabolic engineering of iridoid compounds.

Enzymatic epimerization of monoterpene indole alkaloids in Kratom

This study identifies an oxidase/reductase pair in Kratom that catalyzes the epimerization of 3S to 3R stereocenters in monoterpene indole alkaloids, enabling access to previously inaccessible compounds.

Independent evolution of ipecac alkaloid biosynthesis

This study shows that ipecac alkaloid biosynthesis evolved independently in two plant species using different monoterpene precursors and non-enzymatic reactions.

It runs in the family: Discovery of enzymes in the oleuropein pathway in Olive (Olea europaea) by comparative transcriptomics

This paper identifies enzymes in the oleuropein biosynthesis pathway in olive using comparative transcriptomics and discovers novel genes involved in the pathway.

BAHD news from Euphorbia peplus: identification of acyltransferase enzymes involved in ingenane diterpenoid biosynthesis

This paper identifies acyltransferase genes involved in ingenol-3-angelate biosynthesis in Euphorbia peplus and shows functional redundancy in acetylation steps.