Rational design of plant systems for sustainable generation of value-added industrial products (SmartCell)
Lead Research Organisation:
John Innes Centre
Department Name: UNLISTED
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Technical Summary
This project is part of the EU programme (Smartcell), the goal of which is to develop fundamental knowledge and enabling technologies so that plants and plant cells can be engineered to produce valuable secondary metabolites which can be successfully extracted and purified for industrial and medical uses. The use of post-genomic technologies and cutting edge systems biology approaches in the project aims to enhance the output of specific target molecules, aiming at production levels sufficient for industrial purposes. The overall focus of SmartCell is on monoindole alkaloids (MIAs) produced by Madagascan periwinkle. The JIC part of this project will involve the identification and validation of genes required for synthesis of terpenes in plants with specific emphasis on identification of genes and enzymes for MIA modification, using a combination of a candidate gene approach, heterologous expression (using a plant virus-based expression system), and a resource of plant mutants.
Planned Impact
unavailable
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Anne Osbourn (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Thimmappa R
(2014)
Triterpene biosynthesis in plants.
in Annual review of plant biology
| Description | The major scientific and technological impacts of this project have been to identify key steps in terpene biosynthesis including those for production of terpenes of agricultural, medicinal and industrial biotechnology importance. The methods developed within this project, including those for genome mining for new metabolic pathways in plants, can now be used to streamline pathway discovery and metabolic engineering of plant natural product pathways into heterologous species, including rapid plant-based expression platforms and microbes (Baker's yeast). We have also trained early career researchers within the consortium in the design and delivery of Science, Art and Writing (SAW) projects in schools (see www.sawtrust.org for further information) and have developed resources for science education in schools using the theme of SmartCell as subject material. |
| Exploitation Route | Our work has opened up new opportunities for genome mining based on our discovery that the genes for the synthesis of plant natural products are in some cases organised in clusters in plant genomes. Numerous such clusters have now been discovered by other labs, inspired by our findings. It has also enabled us to start to build a toolkit of genes and enzymes for terpene biosynthesis for synthetic biology approaches. This toolkit is now being developed in subsequent projects and will be opened up to the community via the OpenPlant Synthetic Biology Research Centre (of which Professor Anne Osbourn is a co-Director), which is currently putting in place a plant syntax, registry and repository to support plant synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. |
| Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Chemicals Creative Economy Education Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| URL | http://www.smart-cell.org/ |
| Description | The major scientific and technological impacts of this project have been to identify key steps in terpene biosynthesis including those for production of medicinal compounds through the deep sequencing and systematic screening of gene libraries to identify sequences corresponding to specific enzyme activities, and to introduce these steps into heterologous plants. The methods developed within this project can be used to streamline other metabolic engineering strategies required for the introduction of complex pathways into heterologous plants. In addition to these direct impacts it is important to recognize the potential wider impact of the project on industry, health and the environment. The project focused on the transfer of metabolic capabilities to highly scalable platforms such as our Nicotiana benthamiana transient expression platform and yeast platform, advances that have opened up opportunities for subsequent work with industry, for example through the IB Catalyst programme. By extending this process to other terpenoids, and indeed to other metabolic pathways, it will be possible to produce such compounds in large amounts at minimal cost once a productive expression platform has been developed. In turn this will reduce the use of environmentally-harmful processes such as total chemical synthesis or extraction from rare and endangered plant species. This project has therefore created a defined path for the conversion of basic scientific information (the components of metabolic pathways) into applications of real value to industry, medicine and agriculture, thus validating the concepts, tools, tangible materials, resources, intellectual property and regulatory/biosafety aspects that influence the commercial manufacture of value-added products from plants. During this project a series of three Science, Art and Writing projects (www.sawtrust.org) were carried out by JIC on the theme of plant natural products. 1st at Lionwood Infant school in Norwich, UK, 9.7.2009, 2nd at Morley primary school in Norfolk 6.11.2009, 3rd at Notre Dame High School in Norwich 5.5.2010. Lesson plans developed during these projects have been made available through the SmartCell website for use by others, so contributing resources for science education on the theme of high value chemicals from plants in schools. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2010 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Education,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal Economic Policy & public services |
| Description | SAW Seminar - Sowing the seeds for science outreach |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented creative outreach projects and ways to capture impact at the department seminar to encourage scientists to be bold with their outreach plans and to demonstrate the value of documenting the process and the outcomes for reporting, reflection and to improve the method. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |