Molecular regulation of nicotine biosynthesis

Abstract

Nicotine is most familiar to us as a principal pharmacologically active component of cigarettes. This alkaloid is synthesized in the root in response to insect damage and then transported to the aerial parts of tobacco plants. In this short review, we summarize enzymes and genes involved in nicotine biosynthesis, regulatory mechanisms of gene expression involving the NIC regulatory loci and jasmonic acid, and finally metabolic engineering of nicotine formation.