Trends in Biotechnology 2005-08-01

Predictive metabolic engineering in plants: still full of surprises.

Toni M Kutchan

Index: Trends Biotechnol. 23(8) , 381-3; discussion 383-4, (2005)

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Abstract

In an important recent paper Kristensen et al. address a question of fundamental importance in plant biotechnology: how are metabolic pathways affected upon introduction of a transgene? Analysis of the transcriptome and metabolome of Arabidopsis thaliana engineered to produce the cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin demonstrated that plants can be tailored in a rational manner with marginal inadvertent effects.