Nature Communications (Mar 2020)
Identification and characterization of N9-methyltransferase involved in converting caffeine into non-stimulatory theacrine in tea
- Yue-Hong Zhang,
- Yi-Fang Li,
- Yongjin Wang,
- Li Tan,
- Zhi-Qin Cao,
- Chao Xie,
- Guo Xie,
- Hai-Biao Gong,
- Wan-Yang Sun,
- Shu-Hua Ouyang,
- Wen-Jun Duan,
- Xiaoyun Lu,
- Ke Ding,
- Hiroshi Kurihara,
- Dan Hu,
- Zhi-Min Zhang,
- Ikuro Abe,
- Rong-Rong He
Affiliations
- Yue-Hong Zhang
- International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), College of Pharmacy, Jinan University
- Yi-Fang Li
- International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), College of Pharmacy, Jinan University
- Yongjin Wang
- International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), College of Pharmacy, Jinan University
- Li Tan
- International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), College of Pharmacy, Jinan University
- Zhi-Qin Cao
- International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), College of Pharmacy, Jinan University
- Chao Xie
- International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), College of Pharmacy, Jinan University
- Guo Xie
- Zhongshan Institute, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
- Hai-Biao Gong
- International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), College of Pharmacy, Jinan University
- Wan-Yang Sun
- International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), College of Pharmacy, Jinan University
- Shu-Hua Ouyang
- International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), College of Pharmacy, Jinan University
- Wen-Jun Duan
- International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), College of Pharmacy, Jinan University
- Xiaoyun Lu
- International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), College of Pharmacy, Jinan University
- Ke Ding
- International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), College of Pharmacy, Jinan University
- Hiroshi Kurihara
- International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), College of Pharmacy, Jinan University
- Dan Hu
- International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), College of Pharmacy, Jinan University
- Zhi-Min Zhang
- International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), College of Pharmacy, Jinan University
- Ikuro Abe
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo
- Rong-Rong He
- International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), College of Pharmacy, Jinan University
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15324-7
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 11,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 8
Abstract
Kucha is a rare variety of tea tree that produces the non-stimulatory theacrine instead of caffeine. Here the authors show that theacrine synthase from Kucha has N9-methyltransferase activity resulting from amino acid substitutions that explain substrate specificity and could potentially guide production of caffeine-free tea.
