Glandular Trichomes and Isoprenoid Biosynthesis
iPHACTORY
This is a project funded by the DFG in collaboration with Anna Matuszyńska (Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf), who is performing metabolic modelling. Using a combination of transcriptomics and metabolomics we were able to show previously that glandular trichomes of tomato, although they are photosynthetic, import carbon in the form of sucrose (Balcke et al., 2017). Photosynthesis is used to provide chemical energy and reducing equivalents to fuel the biosynthesis of terpenoids.
TrichoDev and KETCHUP
Here we are targeting various genes identified previously via transcriptomics approaches that are potentially involved in trichome development and differentiation.
HIP: Homeostasis of Isoprenoids in plants
This project was originally funded by the DFG in the frame of the ERA-CAPS programme in collaboration with Rob Schuurink (University of Amsterdam), Marc Boutry (Université Catholique de Louvain), and Yoram Eyal (Agricultural Research Organization, Israel). After the end of the DFG funding, we pursued the work on tobacco trichomes and localization of enzymes of the plastidial isoprenoid pathway.
Combioscreen
Stemming from our interest in glandular trichomes, the elucidation of the biosynthesis of diterpenoids has constituted a strong axis of our research. Most recently we reconstituted the biosynthesis of carnosic acid in yeast (Scheler et al., 2016). We further expanded the characterization of the oxidation network contributing to the biosynthesis of various diterpenoids related to carnosic acids (Bathe et al., 2019). Based on these data, in a current project (Combioscreen) funded by the Science Campus Plant Bioeconomy Halle, we are now implementing a combinatorial biosynthesis approach of diterpenoids in yeast using a Golden Gate based modular cloning system for yeast.
SMARTPLANTS and follow-up
In this project, funded by the ERA-SynBio programme, our goal was to develop synthetic regulatory circuits to engineer orthogonal signal propagation in plants.
GENEREPLACE
This project is funded by the programme “Plants of the Future” of the German Ministry of Education and Research (2018-2020). The goal of the project is to develop tools to increase the frequency of gene targeting in plants and for the marker-free detection of gene targeting events.
