Abstract
Pyrethrins are a natural insecticide biosynthesized by the plant pyrethrum [Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium (Current species name: Tanacetum cinerariifolium)] of the family Asteraceae. Although pyrethrins have been used to control household pests for the past century, little is known about the mechanism of biosynthesis, contrasting with intensive research on their synthetic analogs, pyrethroids. The author studied pyrethrin biosynthesis in young seedlings of C. cinerariaefolium. The results of experiments using 13C-labeled glucose as the biosynthesis precursor indicated that the acid and alcohol moieties are biosynthesized via the 2-C-methyl-d-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) and oxylipin pathways, respectively. Further study on the effects of wound-induced signals in leaves showed that biosynthesis is enhanced in response to both volatile and nonvolatile signals.
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Acknowledgment
The author was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S) (No. 19101009) and Core-to-Core Program (No. 20004) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The author was also supported by Strategic Project to Support the Formation of Research Bases at Private Universities: Matching Fund Subsidy (S1101035) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.
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Matsuda, K. (2011). Pyrethrin Biosynthesis and Its Regulation in Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium . In: Matsuo, N., Mori, T. (eds) Pyrethroids. Topics in Current Chemistry, vol 314. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/128_2011_271
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/128_2011_271
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