A Free Cyanohydrin as Arms and Armour of Marasmius oreades. Issue 4 (28th January 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Caspar, Jan; Spiteller, Peter
• Is Part Of: Chembiochem. Volume 16:Issue 4(2015)
• Page Start: 570
• Page End: 573
• Publication Date: 2015-01-28
• Subjects: Biochemistry -- Periodicals; Molecular biology -- Periodicals; Pharmaceutical chemistry -- Periodicals; 572
• DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201402453
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1439-4227

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>Cyanogenic plants and fungi are widespread in nature. Although the origin of hydrocyanic acid in plants has been studied in detail, little is known about its origin in fungi. Here, we report the identification of the cyanohydrin of glyoxylic acid as the precursor of hydrocyanic acid in the fungus <italic>Marasmius oreades</italic> and several other cyanogenic fungi. Moreover, a feeding experiment revealed glycine as biosynthetic precursor of the cyanohydrin of glyoxylic acid. Thus, the cyanogenesis of <italic>M. oreades</italic> and other fungi is fundamentally different from cyanogenesis in plants.</p> </abstract>