Ecophysiology of transgenic plants expressing an alien defence pathway (B05)

植物合成了种类繁多的次生代谢物，构成了化学防御的武器库。通常特定的防御化合物仅限于一个植物科的成员。次生生物合成通过特征酶从初级代谢分支出来。这允许在任何给定植物中特定途径的转基因表达，并打开了增加植物防御能力的潜力。我们提议通过将Bx基因簇转移到拟南芥中来研究苯并恶嗪类化合物（Bx）的转基因表达的生态生理。Bx是一种防御化合物，存在于包括玉米和小麦在内的许多禾本科植物中。

Plants synthesise a huge variety of secondary metabolites that constitute the arsenal of chemical defence. Often specific defence compounds are restricted to members of one plant family. Secondary biosynthesis branches off primary metabolism via signature enzymes. This allows transgenic expression of specific pathways in any given plant and opens the potential to increase the plant¿s defence repertoire. We propose to investigate the ecophysiology of transgenic expression of benzoxazinoids (Bx), defence compounds that are present in many grasses including the crops maize and wheat through the transfer of the Bx gene cluster to Arabidopsis.