Biosynthesis of ergotamine by Claviceps purpurea (Fr.) Tul

High-yielding strains of Claviceps purpurea (Fr.) Tul, grown on a defined medium, have been used for a study of the biosynthesis of the peptide ergot alkaloid, ergotamine. l-[U-(14)C]tryptophan, dl-[2-(14)C]mevalonic acid lactone, sodium [2-(14)C]acetate, sodium [(14)C]formate and the methyl group of l-[methyl-(14)C]methionine were efficiently incorporated into the peptide alkaloids and specifically labelled the ergoline moiety of ergotamine. These results are the same as previously found for the biosynthesis of other ergot alkaloids. Time-course incubation experiments demonstrated that l-[U-(14)C]phenylalanine, l-[U-(14)C]proline and l-[U-(14)C]alanine were incorporated into the peptide ergot alkaloids. Chemical degradation of the radioactive alkaloid derived from additional precursor incubation experiments showed that phenylalanine and proline function as the most efficient precursors, and specifically label the constitutive side-chain phenylalanyl and prolyl moieties of the alkaloid. The evidence obtained from l-[U-(14)C]alanine-incorporation experiments was inconclusive. However, degradation of ergotamine isolated after incubation with dl-[1-(14)C]alanine, showed that the carboxyl group of the labelled amino acid was specifically incorporated into the alpha-hydroxy-alpha-amino acid residue of the alkaloid. This, in conjunction with the l-[U-(14)C]alanine-incorporation results, showed conclusively that all three carbon atoms of alanine were incorporated as a biosynthetic unit into the alpha-hydroxy-alpha-amino acid moiety of ergotamine.