Applications of Trehalose in Plant Biotech Reviewed
June 8, 2007| |
Trehalose is a type of sugar that has been shown to help plant and animal cells withstand desiccation. Studies in plants have shown that the compound is also associated with increased tolerance to abiotic stresses, such as drought and salinity. Therefore, ways to manipulate the trehalose metabolism are being investigated.
Researchers in Europe reviewed possible genetic engineering approaches for increasing trehalose accumulation which may help in the development of drought and salinity tolerant plant varieties. One approach, said the researchers, is to obtain transgenic plants that over-express genes coding for enzymes in the trehalose biosynthetic pathway. Another approach is to inhibit the expression of the gene coding for trehalase. Trehalase degrades trehalose into two molecules of glucose. With the trehalase genes already cloned from plants, research exploring the feasibility of this method is expected to increase in the future.
Read the review paper at
http://www.springerlink.com/content/rgp1v9521618h75g/.
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