A team of Dutch scientists has uncovered the evolutionary path through which the cannabis plant developed its capacity to produce THC, CBD, and CBC, offering fresh insight into the biological origins of these well-known compounds.
Published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal, the study from Wageningen University & Research worked backward through modern cannabis genetics to piece together how the plant shifted from producing a broad range of cannabinoids to concentrating predominantly on a single one, whether THC or CBD.
The findings show that ancient cannabis plants depended on general-purpose enzymes capable of generating multiple cannabinoids simultaneously from a shared chemical precursor.
Over time, natural evolutionary pressures gave rise to the more targeted enzymes that characterise cannabis plants today.
Alongside its evolutionary conclusions, the study also pointed to potential real-world applications.
The ancestral enzymes reconstructed by the researchers were easier to express in micro-organisms such as yeast than their modern equivalents — a significant finding given the growing interest in producing cannabinoids through fermentation rather than conventional plant cultivation.
One engineered enzyme produced cannabichromenic acid (CBCA) — the chemical precursor to CBC — with near-exclusivity. CBC is a lesser-studied cannabinoid drawing growing scientific attention, yet it appears in only small quantities in most cannabis varieties.
Lead researcher Robin van Velzen said that aspect of the study could prove useful.
“At present, there is no cannabis plant with a naturally high CBC content,” he said.
“Introducing this enzyme into a cannabis plant could therefore lead to innovative medicinal varieties.”
