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. 1976 Jan;125(1):158–165. doi: 10.1128/jb.125.1.158-165.1976

Physiological study of ergot: induction of alkaloid synthesis by tryptophan at the enzymatic level.

V M Krupinski, J E Robbers, H G Floss
PMCID: PMC233347  PMID: 1372

Abstract

The enhancement of ergot alkaloid production by tryptophan and its analogues in both normal and high-phosphate cultures is more directly related to increased dimethylallyltryptophan (DMAT) synthetase activity rather than to a lack of regulation of the tryptophan biosynthetic enzymes. Thiotryptophan [beta-(1-benzo-thien-3-yl)-alanine] is rather ineffective in the end product regulation of tryptophan biosynthesis, whereas tryptophan and 5-methyltryptophan are potent effectors. The presence of increased levels of DMAT synthetase in ergot cultures supplemented with tryptophan or thiotryptophan, and to a lesser extent with 5-methyltryptophan, suggests that the induction effect involves de novo synthesis of the enzyme. Thiotryptophan and tryptophan but not 5-methyltryptophan can overcome the block of alkaloid synthesis by inorganic phosphate. The results with thiotryptophan indicate that the phosphate effect cannot be explained merely on the basis of a block of tryptophan synthesis.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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