Jan Jaworski, Ph.D., Biochemistry, Purdue University
Toni Kutchan, Ph.D., Biochemistry, Saint Louis University
Oilseeds as Chemical Factories: Seeds are a plant’s storage organ. They accumulate oil to provide the energy and carbon necessary for a germinating seed to grow into a plant. A major focus of the Jaworski lab is to explore the capacity of seeds to accumulate useful molecules for industrial applications using biotechnology to reprogram seed metabolism. In order to take rational approaches to genetically engineer seeds, the Jaworski lab is focusing on obtaining a basic understanding of molecular processes involved in plant lipid synthesis. Funding from the National Science Foundation and Department of Energy supports research on seeds from model plants like Arabidopsis as well as potential new sources of plant oils like Camelina and Castor. Camelina is particularly easy to genetically modify, offering the potential to explore the production of unusual molecules such as the biodegradable plastic PHB. Castor, on the other hand, is very diffi cult to engineer and we are exploring new approaches to reprogram this plant. Because Castor can grow in very dry regions, it offers the potential for farming in regions that are currently fallow.
Plants as Sources of Medicines: Plants make low molecular weight specialty chemicals called natural products that are typically part of the plant’s defense arsenal. These chemicals are relevant to human health in the form of medicines; either produced as pure compounds by the pharmaceutical industry or as mixtures in traditional medicines. We specifi cally study how selected medicinal plant species make bioactive natural products called alkaloids. Detailed genetic and biochemical information on these highly specialized species is often missing. We seek to produce and use next generation sequencing to obtain deep-transcriptome datasets to understand the complete formation, storage and regulation of plant-derived medicinal compounds at the enzyme and gene level. An improved understanding will enable the development of both alternate sources of alkaloids that lie along the biosynthetic pathways and of novel drugs.
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2010 Annual Report
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