MSU and Czech team reconstruct early steps of toxic plant alkaloid pathway in tobacco

Michigan State University and Czech Academy of Sciences researchers report they have mapped early biosynthetic steps that let wolfsbane and larkspur make complex diterpenoid alkaloids, phys.org reported, citing a Molecular Plant paper. The compounds can be highly neurotoxic yet have been used against pain, malaria, cancer, and pests. Despite aconitine being isolated nearly 200 years ago, phys.org notes it still has not been fully synthesized in a lab. Collaborating after meeting at a Barcelona conference, the Hamberger lab at MSU and Tomáš Pluskal's group tracked genes switched on in plant tissues and inserted promising codes into tobacco plants used as biofactories. Analysis identified six enzymes that together produced the diterpenoid alkaloid atisinium, including steps that fold the molecule and add an unexpected nitrogen source. Co-first authors include Garret Miller, now at University of Michigan-Flint, and Lana Mutabdžija of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The teams say the pathway blueprint could support engineered hosts such as yeast for larger-scale testing of related bioactive alkaloids. DOI: 10.1016/j.molp.2026.05.022.