Research Activities in the Cyanogenic Glucoside Research Group

Our research group has pioneered research to elucidate the function of members of two multigene families encoding cytochromes P450 (P450s) and glycosyltransferases (UGTs) in "natural product synthesis" in plants with cyanogenic glucosides as a template. In the years to come, we want to unravel the molecular basis for channelled and efficient synthesis of plant natural products such as defense compounds and pigments within "metabolons" (multienzyme complexes) by reconstitution of these complexes into "nano discs". The biological knowledge acquired will be used to metabolically engineer plants to achieve "conveyor belt synthesis" of desired valuable specialty compounds such as pharmaceuticals and flavours. The goal is to develop plants into highly efficient "green factories".

 

In nature, recruitment of new enzyme functions as a result of gene duplication, rearrangements and mutations within the multigene families encoding P450s and UGTs provides plants with a tool kit to modify their arsenal of natural products to cope with environmental challenges, deter pests and herbivores while on the same time attracting pollinators. Knowledge of these processes and of the "transcription factors" that control the carbon flux into these pathways are exploited to incorporate desired new traits into our crop plants by "predictive metabolic engineering" i.e. (1) transfer of genes encoding entire pathways from one plant species into another, (2) knock-out of genes resulting in formation of toxic products that renders plants inedible and (3) design and incorporation of genes that encode enzymes with new catalytic properties into plants to achieve synthesis of specialty compounds. The unravelling of these processes provides a direct entrance to study the biology behind co-evolution ("arms-race") between plants and insects and to understand the basis for natural variation and population genetics at the molecular level.