zebra plant

The team used two distantly related eudicot plant species that produce benzoxazinoids for the studies: the golden dead-nettle Lamium galebodolon, which is found in sparse forests and forest edges on nutrient-rich soils in Europe, and the zebra plant Aphelandra squarrosa, a popular houseplant.

In particular the discovery that the golden dead-nettle and the zebra plant use a dual-function flavin-containing monooxygenase, rather than two different cytochrome P450 enzymes as in grasses, was completely unexpected.

A team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology has now been able to show, by studying two distantly related plant species, the golden dead-nettle and zebra plant, that completely different enzymes are responsible for the formation of these special defense compounds.