Coca plant (IMAGE)

Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research

Coca plant

Caption

Pictured is a flower from the coca plant, Erythroxylum coca Lam. Benjamin Chavez and colleagues used a yeast based synthetic biology platform to elucidate the last remaining enzymatic steps involved in tropane alkaloid formation in Erythroxylum coca. Their findings revealed a nearly complete independent origin has evolved when compared to the solanaceous pathway.

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Danny Kessler

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