Plantsgeneticallymodifiedtoproducesexualperfumetolurepestsandreplacepesticides
Tobaccoplantshavebeengeneticallymodifiedtocreateanalluringfragrancecontaininginsectsex pheromones,whichcouldbeusedtoconfusewould-belove-seekingpestsandreducetheneedfor harmfulpesticides
Byusingprecisegeneticengineeringtechniques,researchersatNorwichEarlhamInstitutehavebeen abletoturntobaccoplantsintosolar-poweredfactoriesthatproducemothsexpheromones
Crucially,theyhaveshownhowtoefficientlymanagetheproductionofthesemoleculessothatnormal plantgrowthisnothindered
Pheromonesarecomplexchemicalsproducedandreleasedbylivingorganismsasameansof communication.Theyallowmembersofthesamespeciestosendsignals,whichincludelettingothers knowthey'relookingforlove
Farmerscanhangpheromonedispersantsincropsthatmimicthesignalsoffemaleinsectstotrapor distractmaleinsectsintheirsearchforamate.Someofthesemoleculescanbeproducedthrough chemicalprocesses,butchemicalsynthesisisoftenexpensiveandproducestoxicbyproducts
DrNicolaPatron,wholedthenewresearchandheadoftheEarlhamInstitute'sSyntheticBiology Group,usescutting-edgesciencetogetplantstoproducethesevaluablenaturalproducts
Syntheticbiologyappliesengineeringprinciplestothebuildingblocksoflife-DNABycreating geneticmoduleswithinstructionsforbuildingnewmolecules,DrPatronandherteamcanturnplants suchastobaccointofactoriesthatrequirenothingmorethansunlightandwater
"Syntheticbiologycouldallowustoengineerplantstomakemoreofwhattheyalreadyproduce,orwe couldgivethemthegeneticinstructionstomakenewbiomolecules,suchasdrugsorpheromones,"Dr Patronsaid
Inthislatestwork,theteam,incollaborationwithscientistsattheInstituteofPlantMolecularandCell BiologyinValencia,engineeredaspeciesoftobacco,Nicotianabenthamiana,toproducemothsex pheromonesThefactoryhaspreviouslybeenadaptedtoproduceEbolaantibodiesandeven coronavirus-likeparticlesfortheCovid-19vaccine.
TheteambuiltnewDNAsequencesinthelabtomimicthemothgenesandintroducedmolecular switchestopreciselyregulatetheirexpression,whicheffectivelyturnedthemanufacturingprocesson andoff
Animportantcomponentofthenewresearchwasbeingabletofine-tunepheromoneproduction,as forcingplantstoconstantlymakethesemoleculeshasitsdownsides
"Whenweincreaseefficiency,toomuchenergyisdivertedfromnormalgrowthanddevelopment,"Dr
Patronexplained.
"Theseplantsproducealotofpheromones,buttheycan'tgrowverylarge,whichradicallyreducesthe productivityofourproductionlinesOurnewresearchprovidesawaytomoresubtlyregulategene expression"
Inthelab,theteamsetouttotestandrefinethecontrolofthegenesresponsibleforproducinga cocktailofmoleculesthatmimicthesexpheromonesofmoths,includingnavelorangewormsand cottonbollworms
Theyfoundthatcoppersulfatecouldbeusedtofine-tunetheactivityofgenes,allowingthemto controlthetimingandlevelofgeneexpression.Thisisespeciallyimportantbecausecoppersulfateis aninexpensiveandreadilyavailablecompoundthatisapprovedforuseinagriculture
Theywereevenabletocarefullycontroltheproductionofdifferentpheromonecomponents,allowing themtotweakthecocktailtobettersuitspecificmothspecies.
"We'veshownthatwecancontrolthelevelofexpressionofeachgenerelativetotheothers,"Dr. Patronsaid"Thisallowsustocontroltheratiooftheproduct
"Thecorrectformulationisespeciallyimportantformothpheromones,astheyareusuallyamixtureof twoorthreemoleculesinspecificratiosOurcollaboratorsinSpainarenowextractingtheplant-made pheromonesandtestingthemindispensersthem,seehowtheycomparetothefemalemoths"
Theteamhopestheirworkwillpavethewayfortheroutineuseofplantstoproduceavarietyof valuablenaturalproducts
"Amajoradvantageofusingplantsisthatitismuchmoreexpensivetomanufacturecomplex moleculesusingchemicalprocesses,"saidDrPatron.“Plantsalreadyproducearangeofuseful molecules,sowewereabletousethelatesttechnologytoadaptandimproveexistingmachinery”
"Inthefuture,wemayseegreenhousesfilledwithplantfactoriesofferingagreener,cheaperand moresustainablewaytomakecomplexmolecules."
CollectedbyLifeasibleabiotechnologycompanythataddressesthegeneticmodificationofplants throughmultiplepopulargeneticengineeringtechnologies,includingCRISPR/CAS9,CRISPRbase editors,transcriptionactivator-likeeffectornucleases(TALENs),zincfingernucleases(ZFNs),RNA interference(RNAi),virus-inducedgenesilencing(VIGS),andgeneoverexpression