Caffeine synthase

Caffeine synthase is a methyltransferase enzyme involved in the caffeine biosynthesis pathway. It is expressed in tea species, coffee species, and cocoa species. The enzyme catalyses the following reactions:^[1]

• S-adenosyl-L-methionine + theobromine ${\displaystyle \rightleftharpoons }$ S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine + caffeine + H⁺
• S-adenosyl-L-methionine + paraxanthine ${\displaystyle \rightleftharpoons }$ S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine + caffeine + H⁺
• 7-methylxanthine + S-adenosyl-L-methionine ${\displaystyle \rightleftharpoons }$ S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine + H⁺ + theobromine

Caffeine synthase
Identifiers
EC no.	2.1.1.160
CAS no.	155215-94-4
Databases
IntEnz	IntEnz view
BRENDA	BRENDA entry
ExPASy	NiceZyme view
KEGG	KEGG entry
MetaCyc	metabolic pathway
PRIAM	profile
PDB structures	RCSB PDB PDBe PDBsum
Search PMC articles PubMed articles NCBI proteins

Caffeine synthase is expressed in the Camellia species irrawadiensis, ptilophylla, and sinensis;^[2] the Coffea species arabica,^[3][4] and canephora;^[5] and in Theobroma cacao.^[6]