15 research outputs found
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in the service of biotechnology
Originating in the Andes, the tomato (Solanum
lycopersicum L.) was imported to Europe in the 16th
century. At present, it is an important crop plant cultivated
all over the world, and its production and consumption
continue to increase. This popular vegetable is known as a
major source of important nutrients including lycopene, bcarotene,
flavonoids and vitamin C as well as hydroxycinnamic
acid derivatives. Since the discovery that lycopene
has anti-oxidative, anti-cancer properties, interest in
tomatoes has grown rapidly. The development of genetic
engineering tools and plant biotechnology has opened great
opportunities for engineering tomato plants. This review
presents examples of successful tissue culture and genetically
modified tomatoes which resistance to a range of
environmental stresses improved, along with fruit quality.
Additionally, a successful molecular farming model was
established
Expression of recombinant staphylokinase, a fibrin-specific plasminogen activator of bacterial origin, in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plants
One of the most dynamically developing sectors of green biotechnology is molecular farming using transgenic plants as natural bioreactors for the large scale production of recombinant proteins with biopharmaceutical and therapeutic values. Such properties are characteristic of certain proteins of bacterial origin, including staphylokinase. For many years, work has been carried out on the use of this protein in thrombolytic therapy. In this study, transgenic Solanum tuberosum plants expressing a CaMV::sak-mgpf-gusA gene fusion, were obtained. AGL1 A. tumefaciens strain was used in the process of transformation. The presence of the staphylokinase gene was confirmed by PCR in 22.5% of the investigated plants. The expression of the fusion transgene was detected using the β-glucuronidase activity assay in 32 putative transgenic plants. Furthermore, on the basis of the GUS histochemical reaction, the transgene expression pattern had a strong, constitutive character in seven of the transformants. The polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of a protein extract from the SAK/PCR-positive plants, revealed the presence of a119 kDa protein that corresponds to that of the fusion protein SAK-mGFP-GUSA. Western blot analysis, using an antibody against staphylokinase, showed the presence of the staphylokinase domain in the 119 kDa protein in six analyzed transformants. However, the enzymatic test revealed amidolytic activity characteristic of staphylokinase in the protein extract of only one plant. This is the first report on a Solanum tuberosum plant producing a recombinant staphylokinase protein, a plasminogen activator of bacterial origin
Efficient In Vitro Callus Induction and Plant Regeneration Protocol for Different Polish Tomato Cultivars
The major goal of this research was to establish a stable regeneration system for tomato cultivars in order to lay the foundations for the future genetic transformation of the tomato. The regeneration ability of two kinds of explants (cotyledons and hypocotyl segments) was compared for three Polish cultivars of the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Explants were cultured on 10 different regeneration media (basal mediums MS or B5, and with a combination of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). It was found that the ability to regenerate was substantially dependent on the cultivars, as well as on the kind of explant. The best explants for inducing shoot regeneration were cotyledons, followed by hypocotyls. It was noticed that the best formulation of the medium for this regeneration from the two types of explants used in this study, is MS with 2 mg/L BA and 0.1 mg/L IAA. Tomato shoots were transferred to a ½ MS medium and ½ MS complemented with 0.1 mg/L IAA for rooting and all of them responded positively to the rooting medium
Green Way of Biomedicine – How to Force Plants to Produce New Important Proteins
Rozdział książki Transgenic Plants - Advances and Limitations
Edited by Yelda Özden Çiftç
Compendium on Food Crop Plants as a Platform for Pharmaceutical Protein Production
Tremendous advances in crop biotechnology related to the availability of molecular tools and methods developed for transformation and regeneration of specific plant species have been observed. As a consequence, the interest in plant molecular farming aimed at producing the desired therapeutic proteins has significantly increased. Since the middle of the 1980s, recombinant pharmaceuticals have transformed the treatment of many serious diseases and nowadays are used in all branches of medicine. The available systems of the synthesis include wild-type or modified mammalian cells, plants or plant cell cultures, insects, yeast, fungi, or bacteria. Undeniable benefits such as well-characterised breeding conditions, safety, and relatively low costs of production make plants an attractive yet competitive platform for biopharmaceutical production. Some of the vegetable plants that have edible tubers, fruits, leaves, or seeds may be desirable as inexpensive bioreactors because these organs can provide edible vaccines and thus omit the purification step of the final product. Some crucial facts in the development of plant-made pharmaceuticals are presented here in brief. Although crop systems do not require more strictly dedicated optimization of methodologies at any stages of the of biopharmaceutical production process, here we recall the complete framework of such a project, along with theoretical background. Thus, a brief review of the advantages and disadvantages of different systems, the principles for the selection of cis elements for the expression cassettes, and available methods of plant transformation, through to the protein recovery and purification stage, are all presented here. We also outline the achievements in the production of biopharmaceuticals in economically important crop plants and provide examples of their clinical trials and commercialization
Cytokinin Signaling and De Novo Shoot Organogenesis
The ability to restore or replace injured tissues can be undoubtedly named among the most spectacular achievements of plant organisms. One of such regeneration pathways is organogenesis, the formation of individual organs from nonmeristematic tissue sections. The process can be triggered in vitro by incubation on medium supplemented with phytohormones. Cytokinins are a class of phytohormones demonstrating pleiotropic effects and a powerful network of molecular interactions. The present study reviews existing knowledge on the possible sequence of molecular and genetic events behind de novo shoot organogenesis initiated by cytokinins. Overall, the review aims to collect reactions encompassed by cytokinin primary responses, starting from phytohormone perception by the dedicated receptors, to transcriptional reprogramming of cell fate by the last module of multistep-phosphorelays. It also includes a brief reminder of other control mechanisms, such as epigenetic reprogramming