Novel findings to the biosynthetic pathway of magnoflorine and taspine through transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis of Croton draco (Euphorbiaceae).

Background: Croton draco is an arboreal species and its latex as well as some other parts of the plant, are traditionally used in the treatment of a wide range of ailments and diseases. Alkaloids, such as magnoflorine, prevent early atherosclerosis progression while taspine, an abundant constituent of latex, has been described as a wound-healer and antitumor-agent. Despite the great interest for these and other secondary metabolites, no omics resources existed for the species and the biosynthetic pathways of these alkaloids remain largely unknown.

Bark anatomy in Croton draco var. draco (Euphorbiaceae).

Many arboreal forms of the genus Croton (ca. 800 spp.), amply distributed in the Americas, have latex-producing cells in their bark, which is widely used in traditional medicine to treat skin infections and some forms of cancer.