An indigo-producing plant, Polygonum tinctorium, possesses a flavin-containing monooxygenase capable of oxidizing indole

Shintaro Inoue, Rihito Morita, Yoshiko Minami

Polygonum tinctorium produces a specific metabolite, indican. When recombinant PtFMO from P. tinctorium was expressed in E. coli, indigo production was observed. The co-expression of PtFMO with PtIGS, which catalyzes the glucosylation of indoxyl, brought about the formation of indican in E. coli. The results showed that indican was synthesized by sequential reactions.

Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications

Elsevier

534

199

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