Mimicry of Pathogen Attack to Increase Secondary Metabolite Accumulation
August 8, 2008 |
Plant secondary metabolites are the source of many pharmaceuticals, flavorings and aromas. These compounds are produced in response to pathogen attack and environmental stress. Secondary metabolites, however, are normally produced by plants in small amounts. A group of scientists from University of Calcutta in India developed transgenic Indian ginseng (Withania somnifera) and wild morning glory (Convolvulus sepium) accumulating increased secondary metabolites such as calystegines and certain flavonoids. The medicinal plants were engineered to express a gene encoding cryptogein, a fungal elicitor protein. Chemical inducers of the pathogen defense response, such as jasmonic acid, salicylate and killed fungi, were also used to increase metabolite and biomass production in transformed cell cultures. Natural transformation with genes coding for microbial elicitors could be a novel approach in developing pathogen resistant plants.
The complete paper is available at http://www.springerlink.com/content/q56h176j324w6812/?p=df06f249f0d64ccf850307b9b750a29d&pi=0
|
Biotech Updates is a weekly newsletter of ISAAA, a not-for-profit organization. It is distributed for free to over 22,000 subscribers worldwide to inform them about the key developments in biosciences, especially in biotechnology. Your support will help us in our mission to feed the world with knowledge. You can help by donating as little as $10.
-
See more articles:
-
News from Around the World
- The Greening of the Olympic Games
- Community Watershed Projects to Conquer Drought
- Agric Investments Can Help Mitigate Climate Change, Decrease Rural Poverty
- Scientists Identify Key to Pathogen Protein Entry into Cells
- Haitian Farmers Receive Much-Needed Seeds and Tools
- EPA Exempts Bt Vip3Aa Protein from Tolerance Requirement
- NY Scientists Studying Agrobacterium to Further Improve Crops
- USDA Issues Protection Certificates to 21 New Plant Varieties
- Biotech Carrot with More Calcium
- DuPont, Hexima Partner to Develop Fungi Resistant Crops
- Thailand Prepares National Biosafety Framework
- Seed Association for Central Asia
- Biofuel Development in Vietnam – A Possibility
- New Vietnamese Website for Farmers
- PetroVietnam Sets up Biofuel Affiliate Company
- Climate Change Causes Aphid Population Boom
-
Research Highlights
- Bt Maize has No Effect on Plant Bug Fitness
- Tumor Targeting Antibody from Transgenic Rice Cell Culture
- Effector-based Identification of Late Blight Resistance Gene in Potato
- Mimicry of Pathogen Attack to Increase Secondary Metabolite Accumulation
-
Announcements
- Conference on the Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture
- International Conference on Plant Virology
- International Microbial Biotechnology Conference in Jakarta
- African Biosafety Network Meeting
- Egypt - 1st National BCH Workshop
-
Resources
- Environment Atlas from UNEP
-
Read the latest: - Biotech Updates (March 27, 2024)
- Gene Editing Supplement (March 27, 2024)
- Gene Drive Supplement (February 22, 2023)
-
Subscribe to BU: - Share
- Tweet