In the biosynthesis of the antiarrhythmic alkaloid ajmaline, polyneuridine aldehyde esterase (PNAE) catalyses a central reaction by transforming polyneuridine aldehyde into epivellosimine, which is the immediate precursor for the synthesis of the ajmalane skeleton. The PNAE cDNA was previously heterologously expressed in E. coli. Sequence alignments indicated that PNAE has a 43% identity to a hydroxynitrile lyase from Hevea brasiliensis, which is a member of the a/b hydrolase superfamily. The catalytic triad, which is typical for this family, is conserved. By sitedirected mutagenesis, the members of the catalytic triad were identified. For further detection of the active residues, a model of.
