Introduction of bacterial metabolism into higher plants by polycistronic transgene expression.
Multiple-gene transformation is required to improve or change plant metabolisms effectively; but this many-step procedure is time-consuming and costing. We succeeded in the metabolic engineering of tobacco plants by introducing multiple genes as a bacteria-type operon into a plastid genome. The tobacco plastid was transformed with a polycistron consisting of three bacterial genes for the biosynthesis of a biodegradable polyester, polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). Accumulation of PHB in the leaves of the transgenic tobacco indicated that the introduced genes were polycistronically expressed. This "phyto-fermentation" system can be used in plant production of various chemical commodities and pharmaceuticals.
Nakashita
H
H
Microbial Toxicology Laboratory, RIKEN Institute, Wako, Saitama, Japan. nakashi@postman.riken.go.jp
Arai
Y
Y
Shikanai
T
T
Doi
Y
Y
Yamaguchi
I
I
D000102:Acetyl-CoA C-Acyltransferase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000217:Acyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000429:Alcohol Oxidoreductases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005285:Fermentation; D015870:Gene Expression; D005796:Genes; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006885:Hydroxybutyrates / Q000378:metabolism; D009713:Nucleotidyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009876:Operon; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D018087:Plastids / Q000235:genetics; D011091:Polyesters / Q000378:metabolism; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology; D014170:Transformation, Genetic; D000094122:Polyhydroxybutyrates
D000102:Acetyl-CoA C-Acyltransferase; D000217:Acyltransferases; D000429:Alcohol Oxidoreductases; D006885:Hydroxybutyrates; D009713:Nucleotidyltransferases; D011091:Polyesters; C003182:poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate; D000094122:Polyhydroxybutyrates; C023744:acetoacetyl-CoA reductase; C060970:poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate polymerase; C022678:streptomycin 3''-adenylyltransferase