Selected Topics from Forty Years of Natural Products Research:  Betalains to Flavonoids, Antiviral Proteins, and Neurotoxic Nonprotein Amino Acids

• Published in: Journal of natural products (Washington, D.C.) Vol. 64; no. 12; pp. 1596 - 1604
• Main Author: Mabry, Tom J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 01.12.2001; Glendale, AZ American Society of Pharmacognosy
• Subjects: Alkaloids - chemistry; Alkaloids - pharmacology; Amino Acids - chemistry; Amino Acids - pharmacology; Analytical, structural and metabolic biochemistry; Antiviral Agents - chemistry; Antiviral Agents - pharmacology; Beta vulgaris - chemistry; Betacyanins; Betalains; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Products - chemistry; Biological Products - pharmacology; Cycas - chemistry; Fabaceae - chemistry; Flavonoids - chemistry; Flavonoids - pharmacology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Indoles - chemistry; Intermediary metabolites. Miscellaneous; Medical sciences; Molecular Structure; Nervous System Diseases - etiology; Nervous System Diseases - physiopathology; Neurotoxins - chemistry; Neurotoxins - pharmacology; Other biological molecules; Photography; Phytolacca - chemistry; Plant poisons toxicology; Plants, Medicinal - chemistry; Proteins - chemistry; Proteins - pharmacology; Quaternary Ammonium Compounds - chemistry; Quaternary Ammonium Compounds - pharmacology; Structure-Activity Relationship; Terpenes - chemistry; Terpenes - pharmacology; Toxicology; Toxin; α-Aminoacid; Betalain; Neurotoxin; Plant origin; Natural product; Antiviral; Biosynthesis; Review; Flavonoid; Protein
• ISSN: 0163-3864; 1520-6025
• DOI: 10.1021/np010524s

The elucidation by NMR and chemical methods of the unique structure of betanidin, the aglycon of the red-violet beet pigment betanin, forty years ago at the University of Zürich, Switzerland, was the beginning of my plant chemistry research program. Many of the same chemical and spectral techniques developed in Zürich have been used at The University of Texas at Austin for the structure analysis of members of many other classes of natural products including especially flavonoids, terpenoids, and alkaloids. Investigations at UT-Austin have concerned many topics such as biochemical and molecular systematics, biosynthetic pathways, structure−activity relationships, and the medicinal importance of natural products and included studies of antiviral proteins in the genus Phytolacca and neurotoxic nonprotein amino acids from cycads and other sources. Following the betalain story and an account of the early development of my UT-Austin biochemical systematic program, the Phytolacca and neurotoxin investigations are discussed herein.