Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42395556›Full record

ArticlebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2026

Ancient origins of alkaloid biosynthesis in medicinal clubmosses.

Eric A Fields, Colin Y Kim, Ryan S Nett

Abstract readPreprint
In one paragraph

Article in bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Eric A FieldsDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University; Cambridge, MA, 02138 USA.
Colin Y KimDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University; Cambridge, MA, 02138 USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9583-9789
Ryan S NettDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University; Cambridge, MA, 02138 USA.ORCID 0000-0002-2537-7010

Funding

Investigating neofunctionalized alpha-carbonic anhydrases as an emerging class of biosynthetic enzyme in plant and animal metabolismR35GM150908 · NIGMS · HARVARD UNIVERSITY · PI Ryan Stephan Nett · 2023 to 2026
$1.6M
NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM150908
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The plant kingdom is rich with medicinal natural products that are complex and difficult to access. Discovering how plants build these molecules can be challenging, especially for biosynthetic pathways that have unusual chemical transformations or require intricate coordination among cellular compartments. Here, we leveraged 300 million years of metabolic conservation to uncover how medicinal clubmosses organize extracellular and intracellular alkaloid biosynthesis to produce the Alzheimer's disease therapeutic huperzine A (HupA). We reveal not only scaffold-forming enzymes that form key precursors to hundreds of clubmoss alkaloids, but also an essential transporter that connects metabolism across the plasma membrane to enable complete HupA biosynthesis. Our results demonstrate how ancient evolutionary conservation can be used to identify cryptic biosynthetic components and unexpected cellular organization in plant specialized metabolism.

Identifiers

PMID42395556
PMCPMC13320859

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.