| Title: | Tunable control of insect pheromone biosynthesis in Nicotiana benthamiana |
| Author(s): | Kallam K; Moreno-Gimenez E; Mateos-Fernandez R; Tansley C; Gianoglio S; Orzaez D; Patron N; |
| Address: | "Engineering Biology, Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, UK. Institute for Plant Molecular and Cell Biology (IBMCP), UPV-CSIC, Valencia, Spain" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1467-7652 (Electronic) 1467-7644 (Print) 1467-7644 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Previous work has demonstrated that plants can be used as production platforms for molecules used in health, medicine, and agriculture. Production has been exemplified in both stable transgenic plants and using transient expression strategies. In particular, species of Nicotiana have been engineered to produce a range of useful molecules, including insect sex pheromones, which are valued for species-specific control of agricultural pests. To date, most studies have relied on strong constitutive expression of all pathway genes. However, work in microbes has demonstrated that yields can be improved by controlling and balancing gene expression. Synthetic regulatory elements that provide control over the timing and levels of gene expression are therefore useful for maximizing yields from heterologous biosynthetic pathways. In this study, we demonstrate the use of pathway engineering and synthetic genetic elements for controlling the timing and levels of production of Lepidopteran sex pheromones in Nicotiana benthamiana. We demonstrate that copper can be used as a low-cost molecule for tightly regulated inducible expression. Further, we show how construct architecture influences relative gene expression and, consequently, product yields in multigene constructs. We compare a number of synthetic orthogonal regulatory elements and demonstrate maximal yields from constructs in which expression is mediated by dCas9-based synthetic transcriptional activators. The approaches demonstrated here provide new insights into the heterologous reconstruction of metabolic pathways in plants" |
| Keywords: | "Animals *Tobacco/genetics/metabolism *Sex Attractants/metabolism Plants, Genetically Modified/genetics/metabolism Insecta Nicotiana benthamiana metabolic engineering pheromones synthetic promoters transcriptional activation;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineKallam, Kalyani Moreno-Gimenez, Elena Mateos-Fernandez, Ruben Tansley, Connor Gianoglio, Silvia Orzaez, Diego Patron, Nicola eng BB/CSP1720/1/BB_/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom BB/L014130/1/BB_/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom BB/R021554/1/BB_/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom BBS/E/T/000PR9819/BB_/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2023/04/11 Plant Biotechnol J. 2023 Jul; 21(7):1440-1453. doi: 10.1111/pbi.14048. Epub 2023 Apr 9" |
