US SCIENTISTS have used genetic engineering to change the function of a plant
enzyme for the first time. The breakthrough paves the way for designer
plants that can be used as a source
of food, fuel and renewable raw
materials.
John Shanklin headed a team of
biochemists from Brookhaven National
Laboratory and the Carnegie Institution
of Stanford University, USA. They
worked on two enzymes, desaturase
and hydroxylase, taken from related species of cruciferous plants.
Desaturase converts the single bonds in
fatty acids to double bonds, and
hydroxylase adds a hydroxy group to
fatty acid structures.
The chemical changes alter the
physical properties of plant oils. The
us researchers identified which
amino acid sequences caused the
activity of each enzyme. They then
altered the genetic blueprint of the
plants. By placing the modified genes
into an Arabidopsis plant, the scien-
tists could tell whether they had been
successful.
Analysis of the plant's seed oil
showed that the process had worked.
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