Nepetalactol Explained

Nepetalactol is an iridoid. It is produced from 8-oxogeranial by the enzyme iridoid synthase.[1] Nepetalactol is a substrate for the enzyme iridoid oxidase (IO) which produces 7-deoxyloganetic acid. It has been identified in Actinidia polygama (the silver vine) as a major cat attractant, and a mosquito repellent. The fact that mosquitos bite cats with nepetalactol on their fur less often may explain why cats are attracted to silver vine in the first place.[2]

Notes and References

  1. 10.1038/nature11692. 23172143. An alternative route to cyclic terpenes by reductive cyclization in iridoid biosynthesis. Nature. 492. 7427. 138–42. 2012. Geu-Flores. Fernando. Sherden. Nathaniel H.. Courdavault. Vincent. Burlat. Vincent. Glenn. Weslee S.. Wu. Cen. Nims. Ezekiel. Cui. Yuehua. o’Connor. Sarah E.. 2012Natur.492..138G. 4431685.
  2. 10.1126/sciadv.abd9135 . The characteristic response of domestic cats to plant iridoids allows them to gain chemical defense against mosquitoes . 2021 . Uenoyama . Reiko . Miyazaki . Tamako . Hurst . Jane L. . Beynon . Robert J. . Adachi . Masaatsu . Murooka . Takanobu . Onoda . Ibuki . Miyazawa . Yu . Katayama . Rieko . Yamashita . Tetsuro . Kaneko . Shuji . Nishikawa . Toshio . Miyazaki . Masao . Science Advances . 7 . 4 . eabd9135 . 33523929 . 7817105 . 231681044 . free .

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