Jerzykiewicz Jolanta
Zaklad Fizjologii Roślin, Instytut Biologii Roślin, Uniwersytet Wrocławski.
Postepy Biochem. 2007;53(3):280-6.
Alkaloids are nitrogen containing compounds found in many plants. They are products of plants secondary metabolism derived from amino acids, purines, pyrimidines or terpene. Most of them are drugs. The biological activity of some alkaloids has led to their intensive exploitation by humans, as pharmaceuticals, narcotics or poisons. During the past 30 years, major technical advances have led to substantial progress in our understanding of alkaloid biochemistry, but since then biosynthetic pathways of some alkaloids are not explained. The nightshade (Solanaceae) are widespread family of plants containing tropane alkaloids or glycoalkaloids. Both of them are naturally produced, as a defense mechanism against insects, predator and disease. On the other hand, most of the species of Solanaceae family have been used by human since several centuries.
生物碱是存在于许多植物中的含氮化合物。它们是植物次生代谢的产物，来源于氨基酸、嘌呤、嘧啶或萜类。其中大多数是药物。一些生物碱的生物活性促使人类对其进行大量开发，用作药物、麻醉剂或毒药。在过去30年中，重大的技术进步使我们对生物碱生物化学的理解取得了实质性进展，但自那时以来，一些生物碱的生物合成途径仍未得到解释。茄科植物是一个分布广泛的植物家族，含有托烷生物碱或糖苷生物碱。这两种生物碱都是自然产生的，作为抵御昆虫、捕食者和疾病的防御机制。另一方面，几个世纪以来，茄科的大多数物种都被人类所利用。
