title: Controlling the interplay between Agrobacterium tumefaciens and plants during the transient expression of proteins.
abstract: In May 2012, the first plant-derived biopharmaceutical protein received full regulatory approval for therapeutic use in humans. Although plant-based expression systems have many advantages, they can suffer from low expression levels and, depending on the species, the presence of potentially toxic secondary metabolites. Transient expression mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens can be used to increase product yields but may also increase the concentration of secondary metabolites generated by plant defense responses. We have recently investigated the sequence of defense responses triggered by A. tumefaciens in tobacco plants and considered how these can be modulated by the transient expression of type III effectors from Pseudomonas syringae. Here we discuss the limitations of this approach, potential solutions and additional issues concerning transient expression in plants that should be investigated in greater detail.
authors.affiliation: a Institute for Molecular Biotechnology; RWTH Aachen University ; Aachen , Germany.
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Buyel
mesh_terms: D016960:Agrobacterium tumefaciens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015870:Gene Expression; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D057865:Plant Immunity / Q000235:genetics; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D044224:Pseudomonas syringae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C036483:T-DNA; C081695:avrPto protein, Pseudomonas syringae; C420919:avrRpt2 protein, Pseudomonas syringae
keywords: LED, light emitting diode; T-DNA, transferred DNA; TTE, type III effector; design of experiments; model building; plant defense response; plant-derived biopharmaceuticals; process robustness; transient protein expression