Engineering Metabolism in Nicotiana Species: A Promising Future.

Francisco Javier Molina-Hidalgo, Marta Vazquez-Vilar, Lucio D'Andrea, Olivia C Demurtas, Paul Fraser, Giovanni Giuliano, Ralph Bock, Diego Orzáez, Alain Goossens

Journal: Trends in biotechnology 2021;39(9):901-913

PMID: 33341279

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

Molecular farming intends to use crop plants as biofactories for high value-added compounds following application of a wide range of biotechnological tools. In particular, the conversion of nonfood crops into efficient biofactories is expected to be a strong asset in the development of a sustainable bioeconomy. The 'nonfood' status combined with the high metabolic versatility and the capacity of high-yield cultivation highlight the plant genus Nicotiana as one of the most appropriate 'chassis' for molecular farming. Nicotiana species are a rich source of valuable industrial, active pharmaceutical ingredients and nutritional compounds, synthesized from highly complex biosynthetic networks. Here, we review and discuss approaches currently used to design enriched Nicotiana species for molecular farming using new plant breeding techniques (NPBTs).

Address: Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Ghent, Belgium.; Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP-UPV-CSIC), Valencia, Spain.; Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.; Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Rome, Italy.; School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK.; Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: [email protected].

DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2020.11.012

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MeSH Terms: Biotechnology, Crops, Agricultural, Metabolic Engineering, Nicotiana