BioMatNet Item: FAIR-CT97-3628 - Improving production and quality of essential oil from aromatic plants by genetic engineering

FAIR-CT97-3628
Improving production and quality of essential oil from aromatic plants by genetic engineering

To find similar Items, click on a keyword below:
Biotechnology : Essential Oil : FAIR Area 1.2 - Green Chemicals and Polymers Chain : Fine Chemicals : Flavours/Fragrances : Pharmaceuticals/Cosmetics : Plant Genetics

	Type of Project	Shared Cost
	Contract No	FAIR-CT97-3628
	Total Cost	644,180 ECU
	EC Contribution	549,844 ECU
	Start Date	01/04/1998
	Duration	36 Months

Improving production and quality of essential oil from aromatic plants by genetic engineering

Objectives

Plant secondary metabolites are extensively used as flavours, fragrances, pigments and medicines by the food and pharmaceutical industries. Even with contemporary advances in synthetic organic chemistry, plants are the main source of over 25 per cent of all prescription medicines. Availability and quality of raw material depend on climatic factors, sacristy of the species, and geography of the area of plant growth that can sometimes include remote and politically unstable regions. Clearly the cultivation of such species must be encouraged and this depends also on the existence of commercially competitive genotypes. Secondary metabolite accumulation in tissue or cell cultures of most plant species is usually orders of magnitude lower than that in the intact plant. Transcriptional inactivation of key regulatory genes of secondary metabolism has been postulated to take place in cultured tissues. As long as the mechanism of inactivation remains unknown significant progress in the field of biotechnology for in vitro secondary metabolite production will be slow depending on accidental mutations resulting in overproducing somaclones.

Technical Approach

Rose essential oil production has been chosen as the model system because of the relative simplicity of the biosynthetic pathway, the easy identification of the oil ingredients, and the commercial interest in this species. Rose oil contains monoterpenes used extensively in the cosmetics industry. Their synthesis as well as that of other secondary metabolites, is affected by biotic and abiotic stresses. Potential second messengers, common to the signal transduction pathways of the various inducing treatments, are free radicals, lipid peroxides, and their derivatives.

The specific objectives are:

Improve rose essential oil yield by introducing overexpressed regulatory genes of terpenoid synthesis and by using antisense technology to down-regulate genes of the free radical and peroxide scavenging system. Higher oil yield is expected if availability of these signal transducing molecules is the limiting factor.
Identify trans-acting factors activating regulatory genes of the monoterpene synthesis path. In a future step, altered, constitutively transcribed forms of trans-acting factor genes could uncouple gene expression from normal signal transduction path component requirements and result in unhindered terpenoid production in in vitro cultures as well as in field grown plants.

Results To Date

A protocol yielding high quality rose DNA (gDNA) was developed. The gDNA was used in southern blots, for the gDNA library construction, and in PCRs using degenerate HMGR primers. The PCR products are being cloned prior to sequencing. Total petal RNA was extracted for use in the cDNA library construction, and tissue specific northern blots. Protocols for the evaluation of terpenoid content in minimal petal masses are under development. Callus cultures have been established from 3 reference strains. Familiarisation with the yeast 2-hybrid system is in progress.

Contacts

Coordinator

Yannis GOUNARIS / University of Thessaly Department of Agriculture / GREECE

EC Scientific Officer

Ciarán MANGAN / European Commission - DG Research Quality of Life Programme - Unit B1.2 / BELGIUM

Participant