Publications of Sarah E. O’Connor

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)

Carr, S. C.; O’Connor, S. E.: A tight-knit family: The medium-chain dehydrogenase/reductases of monoterpene indole alkaloid biosynthesis. Biochemistry (2025)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)