Harnessing the chemistry of plants

Abstract:

Nature makes thousands of molecules– natural products– that have many applications in medicineand beyond. Plants in particular are an extremely important source of these molecules. Syntheticbiology approaches are being used with increasing success to overproduce medicinally andagriculturally important plant-derived molecules in heterologous hosts. However, to pursue suchapproaches effectively, we must first fully understand the chemistry and biology of the biosyntheticpathways that generate these molecules. Given the complexity of plants and plant genomics, thispathway discovery process has been a major bottleneck in harnessing the chemical power of plants.Our research aims to develop methods and resources to unlock the biosynthesis of complex moleculesproduced by plants. We are developing new omics methods to find these genes more efficiently. Wealso explore mechanisms by which these complex plant pathways have evolved to create extraordinarychemical diversity. Additionally, we also study examples in which Nature has made the same moleculetwice. From these examples, we can compare and contrast two different chemical solutions thatnature has evolved. We can then, in the laboratory, mix and match the two chemical pathways todesign our own. Since important natural products from plants are often produced in very smallquantities, or because the natural plant producers are hard to grow, it is important to developmetabolic engineering strategies to improve production of these compounds. This means that it is hardto get enough natural product to use in the clinic. Once we discover the genes that are responsible formaking a natural product- for example, the anti-cancer drug vinblastine- we develop approaches toheterologously produce these products.