title: Metabolic engineering of plants: the role of membrane transport.
abstract: As plant cells are highly compartmentalized, the entrance and exit points of metabolic pathways frequently involve membrane passages of solutes. Transport proteins are often located in strategic positions to control whole pathways and have to be considered in the development of metabolic engineering strategies. Here, we discuss examples of pathways (in carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid and secondary compound synthesis, and mineral metabolism) in which membrane transport steps are considered to exert major control and in which transport proteins have been employed to manipulate metabolic fluxes.
authors.affiliation: Botanical Institute, University of Cologne, Gyrhofstrasse 15, 50931 Cologne, Germany. reinhard.kunze@uni-koeln.de
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kunze
authors.forename: Wolf B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Frommer
authors.forename: Ulf-Ingo
authors.initials: UI
authors.lastname: Flügge
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000096:biosynthesis; D001693:Biological Transport, Active; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008903:Minerals / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D018087:Plastids / Q000378:metabolism; D015202:Protein Engineering; D013213:Starch / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D008903:Minerals; D010940:Plant Proteins; D013213:Starch