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Use of light control of plastid biogenesis for the metabolic engineering of antioxidants in tomato

Reference	C19322
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Peter Bramley
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Professor Paul Fraser, Dr Enrique Lopez-Juez
Institution	Royal Holloway, Univ of London
Department	Biological Sciences
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	210,912
Status	Completed
Type	Research Grant
Start date	01/11/2003
End date	31/10/2006
Duration	36 months

Abstract

Tomato light-hypersensitive mutants accumulate increased levels of antioxidant carotenoids and flavonoids, both being direct or indirect products of plastid metabolism. After a widening of these observations to include other antioxidants, we will engineer tomato plants expressing a constitutively active form of a blue light photoreceptor (chimeric with beta-glucuronidase, GUS), under the control of an inducible promoter. Induction during fruit development, fruit ripening or throughout, will be correlated with final levels of antioxidants, with estimates of plastid volume compartment, and with the expression of pigment biosynthesis and plastid biogenesis genes, utilising array technology. The results will be of benefit both to increase tomato antioxidant content, and as a model for altering organelle biogenesis as an approach to metabolic engineering.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Closed Committee - Biochemistry & Cell Biology (BCB)
Research Topics	X – not assigned to a current Research Topic
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	LINK: Biochemistry & Cell Biology Committee (BCL) [2002]
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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