Die Plant Science Student Conference (PSSC) wird seit 20 Jahren im jährlichen Wechsel von Studierenden der beiden Leibniz-Institute IPK und IPB organisiert. Im Interview erläutern Christina Wäsch (IPK) und Carolin Apel (IPB),…
Über 600 Gäste kamen am 4. Juli ans IPB zur Langen Nacht, die Wissen schafft, um bei unserem Wissenschafts-Quiz-Parcours viel Neues zu erfahren und ihre Kenntnisse unter Beweis zu stellen. Unser Programm in diesem Jahr…
Decades of research on the infamous antinutritional steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGAs) in Solanaceae plants have provided deep insights into their metabolism and roles. However, engineering SGAs in heterologous hosts has remained a challenge. We discovered that a protein evolved from the machinery involved in building plant cell walls is the crucial link in the biosynthesis of SGAs. We show that cellulose synthase–like M [GLYCOALKALOID METABOLISM15 (GAME15)] functions both as a cholesterol glucuronosyltransferase and a scaffold protein. Silencing
GAME15
depletes SGAs, which makes plants more vulnerable to pests. Our findings illuminate plant evolutionary adaptations that balance chemical defense and self-toxicity and open possibilities for producing steroidal compounds in heterologous systems for food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.
Publikation
O'Donnell, P. J.; Calvert, C.; Atzorn, R.; Wasternack, C.; Leyser, H. M. O.; Bowles, D. J.;Ethylene as a Signal Mediating the Wound Response of Tomato PlantsScience2741914-1917(1996)DOI: 10.1126/science.274.5294.1914
Plants respond to physical injury, such as that caused by foraging insects, by synthesizing proteins that function in general defense and tissue repair. In tomato plants, one class of wound-responsive genes encodes proteinase inhibitor (pin) proteins shown to block insect feeding. Application of many different factors will induce or inhibit pin gene expression. Ethylene is required in the transduction pathway leading from injury, and ethylene and jasmonates act together to regulate pin gene expression during the wound response.