Translated from our German original by AI. The German text was researched, written, and edited by the Psychedelia Foundation team and remains the authoritative version.
Researchers have reconstructed the biosynthetic pathways of several naturally occurring psychoactive indoleethylamines in plants, and with them a platform for producing these substances biotechnologically and modifying them deliberately. The study “Complete biosynthesis of psychedelic tryptamines from three kingdoms in plants” began by working out the full biosynthetic pathway of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in psychedelic plant species.
Drawing on structural similarities, the researchers then reconstructed the biosynthesis of five known natural indoleethylamines in a plant system: psilocybin and psilocin, which occur in fungi, DMT from plants, and bufotenin and 5-methoxy-DMT (5-MeO-DMT), which are found, among other sources, in the secretion of the Colorado River toad Incilius alvarius (syn. Bufo alvarius).
For the reconstruction they combined enzyme functions from different organisms and optimized the enzymes involved through metabolic engineering and rational protein design. That made production of the indoleethylamines in the plants considerably more efficient.
The researchers also generated halogenated analogs of the molecules they studied. These compounds do not occur naturally in plants. According to the authors, some of the new molecules are of potential therapeutic interest for psychiatric disorders. That is not evidence of therapeutic or clinical efficacy.
The work shows that biosynthetic pathways for psychoactive indoleethylamines from plants, fungi, and animals can be brought together in plant production systems through synthetic biology and deliberately extended. The result is a platform both for producing known compounds biotechnologically and for exploring new structural variants.
