Research Group: Alkaloids and Chemical Ecology

• Alkaloid biosynthesis. Alkaloids are a class of natural products that have had an enormous impact on the quality of human life. Their impressive range of bioactivities has led to utilization as pharmaceuticals, stimulants, and pesticides (e.g. morphine, caffeine, nicotine). Our group specializes in the discovery of enzymes involved in the stepwise conversion of simple metabolic building blocks into complex alkaloid structures.
• Synthetic biology. We use the new knowledge generated within our alkaloid biosynthesis work to devise and test strategies for the cost-effective production of medicinal alkaloids in production organisms such as yeast or the model plant Nicotiana benthamiana. In cases where toxic alkaloids accumulate in promising crop plants, we use novel breeding technologies to remove the toxic alkaloids from the edible parts of the plant in a selective manner.
• Glucosinolates and chemical ecology (Associate Professor Niels Agerbirk). Glucosinolates are natural products in plants of the mustard order (e.g. mustard, cabbage, cress) and whose metabolic products present a variety of defensive or signaling functions. Our group investigates the structural diversity of glucosinolates and their products across a range of plant species. Recent focus has been on winter cress (Barbarea vulgaris), where glucosinolates are precursors of phytoalexins and a range of sulfur-compounds of yet unknown function.

For students wishing to work within these topics, M.Sc. and B.Sc. projects are currently available. Please contact feg@plen.ku.dk

• Towards sustainable protein sources for Europe: biosynthesis of the lupin alkaloids (VILLUM Foundation, 2017-2022)
• Elucidation of the biosynthetic pathway towards the anti-nutritional alkaloids vicine and convicine in faba beans (WP4 in NORFAB consortium, Innovation Foundation, 2017-2021)
• Accelerated domestication of lupin (WP4 in NovoCrops Research Centre, Novo Nordisk Foundation, 2020-2025)
• Elucidation and reconstitution of the biosynthetic pathway towards the medicinal alkaloid pilocarpine (Novo Nordisk Foundation, 2018-2021)
• Diversity, regulation and biosynthesis of new chemical defences in wintercress and watercress (Torben & Alice Frimodts Foundation, 2017-2020)

Hvis du er interesseret i at lave et projekt, kan du læse mere om dine muligheder i projektdatabasen:

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Institut for Plante- og Miljøvidenskab har forskellige bachelor- og kandidatuddannelser:

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Synthetic Biology:

• Nicola Patron (Earlham Institute, UK)
• Sotirios Kampranis (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)

Alkaloid Biosynthesis in Faba Beans:

• Stig Uggerhøj Andersen and Jens Stougaard (Aarhus University, Denmark)
• Fred Stoddard and Alan Schulman (University of Helsinki, Finland)
• Donal O’Sullivan (University of Reading, UK)
• Albert Vandenberg and Randy Purves (University of Saskatchewan, Canada)

Alkaloid Biosynthesis in Lupins:

• Brigitte Ruge-Wehling (Julius Kühn-Institut, Germany)
• Matthew Nelson (Kew Gardens, UK)
• Benjamin Péret (University of Montpellier, France)
• Magdalena Kroc (Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland)

Glucosinolates and Chemical Ecology:

• Caroline Müller (Bielefeld University, Germany)
• Xiaohui Zhang (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China)
• M. Soledade C. Pedras (Dept. of Chemistry, Univ. of Saskatchewan, Canada)
• Luca Lazzeri (Research Center for Industrial Crops, Bologna, Italy)