Metabolic Engineering of Plant Secondary Metabolism / Edition 1

by R. Verpoorte, A. Wilhelm Alfermann

Overview

Plant secondary metabolism is an economically important source of fine chemicals, such as drugs, insecticides, dyes, flavours, and fragrances. Moreover, important traits of plants such as taste, flavour, smell, colour, or resistance against pests and diseases are also related to secondary metabolites.
The genetic modification of plants is feasible nowadays. What does the possibility of engineering plant secondary metabolite pathways mean? In this book, firstly a general introduction is given on plant secondary metabolism, followed by an overview of the possible approaches that could be used to alter secondary metabolite pathways. In a series of chapters from various authorities in the field, an overview is given of the state of the art for important groups of secondary metabolites.
No books have been published on this topic so far. This book will thus be a unique source of information for all those involved with plants as chemical factories of fine chemicals and those involved with the quality of food and ornamental plants. It will be useful in teaching graduate courses in the field of metabolic engineering in plants.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780792363606
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
Publication date:	11/30/2000
Edition description:	2000
Pages:	286
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.03(d)

Table of Contents

1 Plant secondary metabolism.- 2 General strategies.- 3 Agrobacterium, a natural metabolic engineer of plants.- 4 Particle gun methodology as a tool in metabolic engineering.- 5 Modulation of plant function and plant pathogens by antibody expression.- 6 Transcriptional regulators to modify secondary metabolism.- 7 Plant colour and fragrance.- 8 Metabolic engineering of condensed tannins and other phenolic pathways in forage and fodder crops.- 9 Metabolic engineering of crops with the tryptophan decarboxylase of Catharanthus roseus.- 10 Metabolic engineering of enzymes diverting amino acids into secondary metabolism.- 11 Modification of plant secondary metabolism by genetic engineering.- 12 Expression of the bacterial UBIC gene opens a new biosynthetic pathway in plants.- 13 Regulation of tropane alkaloid metabolism in plants an plant cell cultures.

Editorial Reviews

‘The book can be recommended to anyone wishing to start manipulation of secondary plant metabolism.'
Journal of Plant Physiology, 158:7 (2000)
‘The book is a wonderful up-to-date comprehensive overview of the plant secondary metabolites field and will be very useful for plant biotechnologists. Moreover, this review is also suitable fo students and more generally for a broader readership.'
Plant Science, 161:201(2001)P

From the Publisher