Progesterone In Plants

I was surprised to read Carmen Drahl’s article about progesterone being discovered in a plant (C&EN, Feb. 8, page 13). This news article describes a research publication that touted the first evidence that progesterone is found in a plant. Although the journal article highlighted gives the first proof of progesterone in a deciduous vascular plant, progesterone had been previously isolated and identified from conifers.

In 2003, Ronald L. Jenkins and colleagues reported on the presence of androstenedione and progesterone in a Florida river associated with paper mill effluent and which led to masculinization of female mosquitofish in the river (Toxicol. Sci. 2003, 73, 53). It was hypothesized that the androgens present in the water were produced by bacteria from progesterone found in river sediment. Subsequent studies showed that progesterone occurs naturally in the loblolly pine, which serves as a steroid precursor to the androgens implicated in the mosquitofish masculinization (Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2008, 27, 1273).