Marine diatoms Coscinodiscus granii: They live in open waters such as the North Sea. Under the microscope, many single-celled diatoms can be seen, some of which are healthy, while others are infected by an egg fungus. The zoospores that the fungus forms for reproduction can be seen as small dots.

Publications of Sarah E. O’Connor

Journal Article (169)

2025
Journal Article
Caputi, L.; O’Connor, S. E.: Flowers with bad breath: How an old gene acquired a new function to exploit an insect’s sense of smell. Science 388 (6747), pp. 586 - 587 (2025)
Journal Article
Carr, S. C.; O’Connor, S. E.: A tight-knit family: The medium-chain dehydrogenase/reductases of monoterpene indole alkaloid biosynthesis. Biochemistry (2025)
Journal Article
Colinas, M.; Morweiser, C.; Dittberner, O.; Chioca, B.; Alam, R. M.; Leucke, H.; Nakamura, Y.; Serna Guerrero, D. A.; Heinicke, S.; Kunert, M. et al.; Wurlitzer, J.; Ploss, K.; Hong, B.; Grabe, V.; Lopes, A. A.; O’Connor, S. E.: Ipecac alkaloid biosynthesis in two evolutionarily distant plants. Nature Chemical Biology (2025)
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Florean, M.; Schultz, H.; Grabe, V.; Luck, K.; O’Connor, S. E.; Köllner, T. G.: A pseudoenzyme enables indole biosynthesis in eudicot plants. Nature Chemical Biology (2025)
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Florean, M.; Schultz, H.; Wurlitzer, J.; O’Connor, S. E.; Köllner, T. G.: Independent evolution of plant natural products: Formation of benzoxazinoids in Consolida orientalis (Ranunculaceae). Journal of Biological Chemistry 301 (1), 108019 (2025)
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Grzech, D.; Smit, S. J.; Alam, R. M.; Boccia, M.; Nakamura, Y.; Hong, B.; Barbole, R.; Heinicke, S.; Kunert, M.; Seibt, W. et al.; Grabe, V.; Caputi, L.; Lichman, B. R.; O’Connor, S. E.; Aharoni, A.; Sonawane, P. D.: Incorporation of nitrogen in antinutritional Solanum alkaloid biosynthesis. Nature Chemical Biology 21, pp. 131 - 142 (2025)
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Kamileen, M. O.; Hong, B.; Gase, K.; Kunert, M.; Caputi, L.; Lichman, B. R.; O’Connor, S. E.: Oxidative rearrangements of the alkaloid intermediate geissoschizine. Angewandte Chemie, International Edition in English, e202501323 (2025)
Journal Article
Kimbadi Lombe, B.; Zhou, T.; Caputi, L.; Ploss, K.; O’Connor, S. E.: Biosynthetic origin of the methoxy group in quinine and related alkaloids. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 64 (5), e202418306 (2025)
Journal Article
Laezza, C.; Heinicke, S.; Wurlitzer, J.; D'Amelia, V.; Caputi, L.; Rigano, M. M.; O’Connor, S. E.: Single-cell mass spectrometry reveals heterogeneous triterpenic acid accumulation in apple callus-derived cells. Plant Biotechnology Journal (2025)
Journal Article
Li, C.; Colinas, M.; Wood, J. C.; Vaillancourt, B.; Hamilton, J. P.; Jones, S. L.; Caputi, L.; O’Connor, S. E.; Buell, C. R.: Cell-type-aware regulatory landscapes governing monoterpene indole alkaloid biosynthesis in the medicinal plant Catharanthus roseus. New Phytologist 245 (1), pp. 347 - 362 (2025)
Journal Article
Stathaki, A.; Alam, R. M.; Köllner, T. G.; O’Connor, S. E.: Engineering of insect juvenile hormone III biosynthesis in the plant Nicotiana benthamiana. Metabolic Engineering 88, pp. 77 - 84 (2025)
Journal Article
Zschoche, N.; Schober, S.; Walther, K.; Chadeayne, A. R.; Gressler, M.; Bartram, S.; O’Connor, S. E.; Hoffmeister, D.: Clade III synthases add cyclic and linear terpenoids to the Psilocybe metabolome. ChemBioChem: A European Journal of Chemical Biology (accepted)
2024
Journal Article
Boccia, M.; Kessler, D.; Seibt, W.; Grabe, V.; Rodriguez Lopez, C. E.; Grzech, D.; Heinicke, S.; O’Connor, S. E.; Sonawane, P. D.: A scaffold protein manages the biosynthesis of steroidal defense metabolites in plants. Science 386 (6728), pp. 1366 - 1372 (2024)
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Boccia, M.; Ploß, K.; Kunert, M.; Keshan, R.; Hatam, M.; Grabe, V.; O’Connor, S. E.; Sonawane, P. D.: Metabolic engineering of vitamin D3 in Solanaceae plants. Plant Biotechnology Journal 22 (12), pp. 3389 - 3391 (2024)
Journal Article
Chen, X.; Urban, J. M.; Wurlitzer, J.; Wei, X.; Han, J.; O’Connor, S. E.; Rudolf, J. D.; Köllner, T. G.; Chen, F.: Canonical terpene synthases in arthropods: Intraphylum gene transfer. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 121 (51), e2413007121 (2024)
Journal Article
Cuello, C.; Jansen, H. J.; Abdallah, C.; Mbadinga, D.-L. Z.; Williams, C. B.; Durand, M.; Oudin, A.; Papon, N.; Giglioli-Guivarc'h, N.; Dirks, R. P. et al.; Jensen, M. K.; O’Connor, S. E.; Besseau, S.; Courdavault, V.: The Madagascar palm genome provides new insights on the evolution of Apocynaceae specialized metabolism. Heliyon 10 (6), e28078 (2024)
Journal Article
DeMars II, M. D.; O’Connor, S. E.: Evolution and diversification of carboxylesterase-like [4+2] cyclases in aspidosperma and iboga alkaloid biosynthesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 121 (7), e2318586121 (2024)
Journal Article
Dror, M. J.; Misa, J.; Yee, D. A.; Chu, A. M.; Yu, R. K.; Chan, B. B.; Aoyama, L. S.; Chaparala, A. P.; O’Connor, S. E.; Tang, Y.: Engineered biosynthesis of plant heteroyohimbine and corynantheine alkaloids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology 51, kuad047 (2024)
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Kamileen, M. O.; Nakamura, Y.; Luck, K.; Heinicke, S.; Hong, B.; Colinas, M.; Lichman, B. R.; O’Connor, S. E.: Streamlined screening platforms lead to the discovery of pachysiphine synthase from Tabernanthe iboga. New Phytologist 244 (4), pp. 1437 - 1449 (2024)
Journal Article
Lezin, E.; Carqueijeiro, I.; Cuello, C.; Durand, M.; Jansen, H. J.; Vergès, V.; Williams, C. B.; Oudin, A.; De Bernonville, T. D.; Petrignet, J. et al.; Celton, N.; St-Pierre, B.; Papon, N.; Sun, C.; Dirks, R. P.; O’Connor, S. E.; Jensen, M. K.; Besseau, S.; Courdavault, V.: A chromosome-scale genome assembly of Rauvolfia tetraphylla facilitates the identification of the complete ajmaline biosynthetic pathway. Plant Communications, 100784 (2024)
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