Ergot

Ergot is pronounced ur-git, not er-go. Highly toxic, it ought not be consumed. Properly modified, it has many uses, primarily due to fortuitous similarity between the ergoline skeleton and the monoamide neurotransmitters (e.g. serotonin, dopamine, and adrenaline)...

• Ergot: fungi of the genus Claviceps. All Claviceps species are ergot. The most well-known member is Claviceps purpurea (Latin purpuro, purple, "to adorn/beautify"), the rye ergot fungus, which is parasitic on grasses and cereals (especially rye).
  • A Claviceps spore infects a flowering grass or cereal's floret. Upon connection to the vascular bundle, soft white sphacelia tissue develops. This hardens and dries into a sclerotium in the destroyed floret's husk.
  • Alkaloids and lipids accumulate in the sclerotium. Dry, mature claviceps purpurea sclerotium consist of about 2% ergot alkaloids by weight. Claviceps africana also contains substantial alkaloids.
• Alkaloid: Basic (high-pH) naturally-occurring organic compounds containing nitrogen. The "true alkaloids" are biosynthesized from amino acids and contain nitrogen in a heterocycle (a cyclic structure containing more than one element).
  • Indole: The aromatic heterocycle C₈H₇N. Bicyclic pair of benzene (C₆H₆) and pyrrole (C₄H₄NH) sharing an edge. A biosynthetic precursor to the indole alkaloids, including the amino acid tryptophan and 3-indolepropionic acid (IPA).
  • Tryptophan: An essential amino acid (one which cannot be biosynthesized in humans), and a precursor in humans of serotonin, melatonin, and vitamin B3. Clostridium sporogenes in the human gut metabolizes tryptophan into indole.
  • Ergoline: the structural skeleton shared by ergoline alkaloids. Also a tanning bed by JK Products (pronounced differently).

Ergoline path (the ergot alkaloids)

• L-Tryptophan C₁₁H₁₂N₂O₂ -> (prenylation via DMAPP from mevalonic acid, catalyzed by DMATS)
  • DMAT(S): dimethylallyltryptophan (synthetase)
• 4-L-DMAT -> (N-methylation via SAM, catalyzed by EasF)
• 4-DMA-L-abrine -> (decarboxylation+oxidation via EasC, catalyzed by EasE)
• Chanoclavine-I -> (oxidation via EasD)
• Chanoclavine-I-aldehyde (a D₂ dopamine receptor stimulant) ->
• Agroclavine ->
• Emiloclavine ->
• Paspalic acid ->
• Lysergic acid

D-Lysergic acid

Lysergic: the result of lysing ergot. A Table I precursor under the UN Convention Against Psychotropic Substances. About 15 tons of DLA (also seen as (+)-lysergic acid) are legitimately manufactured each year, primarily from submerged fermentation of special strains of Calviceps purpurea but also from field harvests.

External links

• Reconstituting the complete biosynthesis of D-lysergic acid in yeast. Nature Communications 2022-02.
• [Biosynthesis, total synthesis, and biological profiles of Ergot alkaloids]. Tasker & Wipf. The Alkaloids: Chemistry and Biology 2020.
• List of Precursors and chemicals frequently used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances under International Control. International Narcotics Control Board 2022-01. Also known as the "Red List".