Engineering storage capacity for volatile sesquiterpenes in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves.

ABSTRACT: Plants store volatile compounds in specialized organs. The properties of these storage organs prevent precarious evaporation and protect neighbouring tissues from cytotoxicity. Metabolic engineering of plants is often carried out in tissues such as leaf mesophyll cells, which are abundant and easily accessible by engineering tools. However, these tissues are not suitable for the storage of volatile and hydrophobic compound such as sesquiterpenes and engineered volatiles are often lost into the headspace. In this study, we show that the seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana, which naturally contain lipid bodies, accumulate sesquiterpenes upon engineered expression. Subsequently, storage of volatile sesquiterpenes was achieved in Nicotiana benthamiana leaf tissue, by introducing oleosin-coated lipid

SUBMITTER: Delatte TL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6230952 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature