Engineering metabolic pathways in plants by multigene transformation

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2013Author
Zorrilla López, Uxue
Masip Vilà, Gemma
Arjó Pont, Gemma
Berman Quintana, Judit
Miralpeix i Anglada, Bruna
Pérez Massot, Eduard
Sabalza Gallués, Maite
Sanahuja Solsona, Georgina
Twyman, Richard M.
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Zorrilla López, Uxue;
Masip Vilà, Gemma;
Arjó Pont, Gemma;
Bai, Chao;
Banakar, Raviraj;
Bassie Rene, Ludovic;
...
Capell Capell, Teresa.
(2013)
.
Engineering metabolic pathways in plants by multigene transformation.
International Journal of Developmental Biology, 2013, vol.57, núm. 6, 7, 8, p. 565-576.
https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.130162pc.
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Metabolic engineering in plants can be used to increase the abundance of specific
valuable metabolites, but single-point interventions generally do not improve the yields of target
metabolites unless that product is immediately downstream of the intervention point and there is
a plentiful supply of precursors. In many cases, an intervention is necessary at an early bottleneck,
sometimes the first committed step in the pathway, but is often only successful in shifting the
bottleneck downstream, sometimes also causing the accumulation of an undesirable metabolic
intermediate. Occasionally it has been possible to induce multiple genes in a pathway by controlling
the expression of a key regulator, such as a transcription factor, but this strategy is only possible
if such master regulators exist and can be identified. A more robust approach is the simultaneous
expression of multiple genes in the pathway, preferably representing every critical enzymatic
step, therefore removing all bottlenecks and ensuring completely unrestricted metabolic flux. This
approach requires the transfer of multiple enzyme-encoding genes to the recipient plant, which
is achieved most efficiently if all genes are transferred at the same time. Here we review the state
of the art in multigene transformation as applied to metabolic engineering in plants, highlighting
some of the most significant recent advances in the field.
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International Journal of Developmental Biology, 2013, vol.57, núm. 6, 7, 8, p. 565-576European research projects
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