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Rewiring carotenoid biosynthesis in plants using a viral vector.
Eszter Majer1, Briardo Llorente2, Manuel Rodríguez-Concepción2
1Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Centíficas-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain.
Scientific Reports
|February 1, 2017
Summary
Scientists engineered tobacco plants to produce the health-boosting carotenoid lycopene using a viral vector. This method also created a yellow pigment reporter to track plant virus infections.
Area of Science:
- Plant biotechnology
- Molecular biology
- Virology
Background:
- Engineering plants for compound production is challenging due to metabolic pathway regulation.
- Plant viruses offer a novel tool for introducing heterologous metabolic pathways.
Purpose of the Study:
- To engineer tobacco plants to produce lycopene using a viral vector.
- To develop a visual reporter system for plant virus infections.
Main Methods:
- A Tobacco etch virus-derived vector was used to express a three-enzyme pathway from Pantoea ananatis.
- Lycopene production and carotenoid/chlorophyll content were analyzed in infected and non-infected tissues.
- The effect of expressing phytoene synthase (crtB) on endogenous carotenoids and pigmentation was investigated.
Main Results:
- Viral vector expression led to lycopene accumulation, comprising ~10% of total carotenoids.
- Expression of phytoene synthase (crtB) induced endogenous carotenoid accumulation and chlorophyll reduction.
- Infected tissues exhibited bright yellow pigmentation, serving as a visual marker.
Conclusions:
- Viral vectors are effective for engineering complex metabolic pathways in plants.
- A yellow carotenoid-based reporter system can visually track plant virus infection dynamics.
