Cel Nature produces a spectacularly diverse array of complex molecules that are exploited for many applications. Elucidating the biosynthetic pathways that are used to construct these complex molecules allows implementation of metabolic engineering or synthetic biology strategies that can dramatically improve production levels of these compounds. Moreover, identifying the biosynthetic genes facilitates study of the unprecedented biochemistry harboured within these specialised metabolic pathways. Unfortunately, research progress in plant specialised metabolism has lagged, in large part due to the complexities of plant systems. This has hampered the application of state-of-the-art synthetic biology approaches that can exploit this rich metabolism. The availability of inexpensive sequence data makes this an outstanding time to revisit difficult questions in plant metabolism. My group has recently obtained RNA-seq data for 24 tissues for Catharanthus roseus, which produces vinblastine, an anti-cancer drug that is arguably one of the most complex natural products found in plants. Moreover, my group has recently pioneered the implementation of gene silencing technology in C. roseus, which provides, for the first time, the means to rapidly assess C. roseus gene function in planta. This ensures that we will have a reasonably high-throughput platform by which we can assess gene candidates identified by hierarchical clustering analysis. In Objective 1, we outline a plan to identify vinblastine biosynthetic gene candidates using our transcriptome data and then screen these candidates for function in planta. We also propose a series of in vitro assays by which to characterise promising gene candidates biochemically. In Objective 2, we propose to reconstitute portions of the vinblastine pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) and the model plant Nicotiana benthamiana (tobacco) to create high-yielding platforms for production of valuable plant metabolites. Dziedzina nauki natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistryengineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologymetabolic engineeringnatural sciencesbiological sciencessynthetic biology Program(-y) FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific programme: "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Temat(-y) ERC-SG-LS9 - ERC Starting Grant - Applied life sciences and biotechnology Zaproszenie do składania wniosków ERC-2012-StG_20111109 Zobacz inne projekty w ramach tego zaproszenia System finansowania ERC-SG - ERC Starting Grant Instytucja przyjmująca JOHN INNES CENTRE Wkład UE € 1 219 400,07 Adres NORWICH RESEARCH PARK COLNEY NR4 7UH Norwich Zjednoczone Królestwo Zobacz na mapie Region East of England East Anglia Breckland and South Norfolk Rodzaj działalności Research Organisations Kierownik naukowy Sarah Ellen O'connor (Dr.) Kontakt administracyjny Mary Anderson (Dr.) Linki Kontakt z organizacją Opens in new window Strona internetowa Opens in new window Koszt całkowity Brak danych Beneficjenci (2) Sortuj alfabetycznie Sortuj według wkładu UE Rozwiń wszystko Zwiń wszystko JOHN INNES CENTRE Zjednoczone Królestwo Wkład UE € 1 219 400,07 Adres NORWICH RESEARCH PARK COLNEY NR4 7UH Norwich Zobacz na mapie Region East of England East Anglia Breckland and South Norfolk Rodzaj działalności Research Organisations Kierownik naukowy Sarah Ellen O'connor (Dr.) Kontakt administracyjny Mary Anderson (Dr.) Linki Kontakt z organizacją Opens in new window Strona internetowa Opens in new window Koszt całkowity Brak danych UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA Zakończenie uczestnictwa Zjednoczone Królestwo Wkład UE € 278 519,93 Adres EARLHAM ROAD NR4 7TJ Norwich Zobacz na mapie Region East of England East Anglia Norwich and East Norfolk Rodzaj działalności Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Kontakt administracyjny Chris Killen (Dr.) Linki Kontakt z organizacją Opens in new window Strona internetowa Opens in new window Koszt całkowity Brak danych