Zur Biosynthese des Strychnins. 135. Mitteilung über Alkaloide

From the feeding of young plants of Strychnos nux-vomica with [¹⁴C]-1-and [¹⁴C]-2-acetate it could be deduced that the C-atoms 22 and 23 were derived from acetate. [¹⁴C]-2-mevalonate, [¹⁴C]-2-geraniol and [¹⁴C]-2-geranyl pyrophosphate were also incorporated into strychnine. The distribution of radioactivity in the «mevalonate-strychnine» was in agreement with the monoterpenoid hypothesis. Feeding experiments especially with [¹⁴C]-tryptophane showed that the main production centre of the alkaloid lay in the roots and that only a small part of it was carried to the leaves. Tritium labelled WIELAND GUMLICH aldehyde as well as N_(a)-[¹⁴C]-1-acetyl WIELAND GUMLICH aldehyde were not converted into strychnine by S. nux-vomica.