Fungal biology and biotechnology
April 25, 2024
Paula Sophie Seibold, Sebastian Dörner, Janis Fricke et al.
8 citations
Although Basidiomycota produce pharmaceutically and ecologically relevant natural products, knowledge of how they coordinate their primary and secondary metabolism is virtually non-existent. Upon transition from vegetative mycelium to carpophore formation, mushrooms of the genus Psilocybe use L-tryptophan to supply the biosynthesis of the psychedelic tryptamine alkaloid psilocybin with the...
Nature Communications
March 28, 2024
Jesse Hudspeth, Kai Rogge, Sebastian Dörner et al.
24 citations
Abstract Psilocybin, the natural hallucinogen produced by Psilocybe (“magic”) mushrooms, holds great promise for the treatment of depression and several other mental health conditions. The final step in the psilocybin biosynthetic pathway, dimethylation of the tryptophan-derived intermediate norbaeocystin, is catalysed by PsiM. Here we present atomic resolution (0.9 Å) crystal structures of...
ChemBioChem
May 18, 2022
Sebastian Dörner, Kai Rogge, Janis Fricke et al.
43 citations
Abstract Psilocybe magic mushrooms are best known for their main natural product, psilocybin, and its dephosphorylated congener, the psychedelic metabolite psilocin. Beyond tryptamines, the secondary metabolome of these fungi is poorly understood. The genomes of five species ( P. azurescens , P. cubensis , P. cyanescens , P. mexicana , and P. serbica ) were browsed to understand more profoundly...
ChemBioChem
April 28, 2022
Claudius Lenz, Sebastian Dörner, Felix Trottmann et al.
26 citations
Abstract Psilocybin ( 1 ) is the major alkaloid found in psychedelic mushrooms and acts as a prodrug to psilocin ( 2 , 4‐hydroxy‐ N , N ‐dimethyltryptamine), a potent psychedelic that exerts remarkable alteration of human consciousness. In contrast, the positional isomer bufotenin ( 7 , 5‐hydroxy‐ N , N ‐dimethyltryptamine) differs significantly in its reported pharmacology. A series of...
Chemistry - A European Journal
June 1, 2021
Claudius Lenz, Sebastian Dörner, Alexander M. Sherwood et al.
19 citations
Abstract Psilocin ( 1 ) is the dephosphorylated and psychotropic metabolite of the mushroom natural product psilocybin. Oxidation of the phenolic hydroxy group at the C‐4 position of 1 results in formation of oligomeric indoloquinoid chromophores responsible for the iconic blueing of bruised psilocybin‐producing mushrooms. Based on previous NMR experiments, the hypothesis included that the...
ChemBioChem
December 4, 2019
Richard Demmler, Janis Fricke, Sebastian Dörner et al.
31 citations
Abstract Psychotropic Psilocybe mushrooms biosynthesize their principal natural product psilocybin in five steps, among them a phosphotransfer and two methyltransfer reactions, which consume one equivalent of 5′‐adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and two equivalents of S ‐adenosyl‐ l ‐methionine (SAM). This short but co‐substrate‐intensive pathway requires nucleoside cofactor salvage to maintain high...
Chemistry - A European Journal
November 14, 2019
Felix Blei, Sebastian Dörner, Janis Fricke et al.
80 citations
Abstract The psychotropic effects of Psilocybe “magic” mushrooms are caused by the l ‐tryptophan‐derived alkaloid psilocybin. Despite their significance, the secondary metabolome of these fungi is poorly understood in general. Our analysis of four Psilocybe species identified harmane, harmine, and a range of other l ‐tryptophan‐derived β‐carbolines as their natural products, which was confirmed...