Glucosinolates – model metabolites to study engineering, regulation and transport

Glucosinolates are amino acid-derived natural plant products found in the order Brassicales, which includes the economically important oilseed rape, vegetables such as broccoli and the model Arabidopsis. Glucosinolates are hydrolyzed by myrosinases to produce isothiocyanates and nitriles, which have a wide range of biological activities. For plants, glucosinolates protect against herbivore and microbial attacks, and is implicated in host-plant recognition by specialized predators. For humans, glucosinolates have received increased attention as cancer-preventive agents and potential biopesticides.

 

We apply pathway and transport engineering of glucosinolates to improve human nutrition and to increase disease resistance of crops. In addition, we use the glucosinolates in Arabidopsis thaliana as a unique model system for studying cellular and organismal biology. Our goal is to uncover the molecular interactions facilitating the dynamic changes in glucosinolates levels that are generated in response to developmental cues as well as abiotic and biotic stresses.

 

Our current research focuses on:
• Bioengineering of glucosinolates in different host organisms
• Investigation of the presence of glucosinolate metabolon
• Identification of regulon of the glucosinolate pathway
• Molecular dissection of factors controlling flux through the glucosinolate pathway
• Identification of the glucosinolate transporter complement
• USER technology

 

 

The presence of glucosinolates has many biological effects, some detrimental others highly desirable.

 

Illustration of the protein-protein interactions resulting in assembly of biosynthetic, regulatory and transport macromolecular complexes that enable a multicellular organism to orchestrate cellular responses in a coordinated fashion.