Metabolic control analysis of glycolysis

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Metabolic engineering is a tool that is increasingly used for the development of new crop varieties.  The routine use of metabolic engineering in crop improvement strategies necessitates a complete understanding of mechanisms by which metabolic pathways are regulated in vivo.  Glycolysis is involved in the generation of metabolic energy and in the breakdown of carbohydrates to provide carbon skeletons to a large variety of plant biosynthetic pathways. It is also involved in plant adaptations to several environmental stresses.  Thus, metabolic engineering of plant glycolysis has potential applications in improvement of crops that are tailored to produce valuable natural products or to resist better to environmental stresses.  However, our current knowledge on how this metabolic pathway is regulated is still fragmentary.  The long term objective of my research program is to better understand the regulation of plant glycolysis.  The research described in the present proposal aims at understanding qualitatively and quantitatively the involvement of 4 enzymes in the control over the plant glycolytic pathway. For this, we will characterize in detail the metabolism of transgenic potato root cultures genetically engineered to have various levels of these enzymes.  The occurrence and biochemical properties of these enzymes will be examined in relation to their function in plant metabolism.  In the long term, applications of this research will allow a rationale approach to engineer carbon metabolism in plants.