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Basallo O, Perez L, Lucido A, Sorribas A, Marin-Saguino A, Vilaprinyo E, Perez-Fons L, Albacete A, Martínez-Andújar C, Fraser PD, Christou P, Capell T, Alves R. Changing biosynthesis of terpenoid percursors in rice through synthetic biology. Front Plant Sci 2023; 14:1133299. [PMID: 37465386 PMCID: PMC10350630 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1133299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/20/2023]
Abstract
Many highly valued chemicals in the pharmaceutical, biotechnological, cosmetic, and biomedical industries belong to the terpenoid family. Biosynthesis of these chemicals relies on polymerization of Isopentenyl di-phosphate (IPP) and/or dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) monomers, which plants synthesize using two alternative pathways: a cytosolic mevalonic acid (MVA) pathway and a plastidic methyleritritol-4-phosphate (MEP) pathway. As such, developing plants for use as a platform to use IPP/DMAPP and produce high value terpenoids is an important biotechnological goal. Still, IPP/DMAPP are the precursors to many plant developmental hormones. This creates severe challenges in redirecting IPP/DMAPP towards production of non-cognate plant metabolites. A potential solution to this problem is increasing the IPP/DMAPP production flux in planta. Here, we aimed at discovering, understanding, and predicting the effects of increasing IPP/DMAPP production in plants through modelling. We used synthetic biology to create rice lines containing an additional ectopic MVA biosynthetic pathway for producing IPP/DMAPP. The rice lines express three alternative versions of the additional MVA pathway in the plastid, in addition to the normal endogenous pathways. We collected data for changes in macroscopic and molecular phenotypes, gene expression, isoprenoid content, and hormone abundance in those lines. To integrate the molecular and macroscopic data and develop a more in depth understanding of the effects of engineering the exogenous pathway in the mutant rice lines, we developed and analyzed data-centric, line-specific, multilevel mathematical models. These models connect the effects of variations in hormones and gene expression to changes in macroscopic plant phenotype and metabolite concentrations within the MVA and MEP pathways of WT and mutant rice lines. Our models allow us to predict how an exogenous IPP/DMAPP biosynthetic pathway affects the flux of terpenoid precursors. We also quantify the long-term effect of plant hormones on the dynamic behavior of IPP/DMAPP biosynthetic pathways in seeds, and predict plant characteristics, such as plant height, leaf size, and chlorophyll content from molecular data. In addition, our models are a tool that can be used in the future to help in prioritizing re-engineering strategies for the exogenous pathway in order to achieve specific metabolic goals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Orio Basallo
- Systems Biology Group, Department Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Biomedica de Lleida (IRBLleida), Lleida, Spain
| | - Lucia Perez
- Applied Plant Biotechnology Group, Department de Producció Vegetal I Ciència Florestal, Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria Agroalimentària i Forestal i de Veterinària (ETSEAFiV), Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain
- Agrotecnio Centres de Recerca de Catalunya (CERCA) Center, Lleida, Spain
| | - Abel Lucido
- Systems Biology Group, Department Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Biomedica de Lleida (IRBLleida), Lleida, Spain
| | - Albert Sorribas
- Systems Biology Group, Department Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Biomedica de Lleida (IRBLleida), Lleida, Spain
| | - Alberto Marin-Saguino
- Systems Biology Group, Department Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Biomedica de Lleida (IRBLleida), Lleida, Spain
| | - Ester Vilaprinyo
- Systems Biology Group, Department Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Biomedica de Lleida (IRBLleida), Lleida, Spain
| | - Laura Perez-Fons
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham Hill, United Kingdom
| | - Alfonso Albacete
- Departament of Plant Nutrition, Center of Edaphology and Applied Biology of the Segura (CEBAS), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain
- Department of Plant Production and Agrotechnology, Institute for Agri-Food Research and Development of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
| | - Cristina Martínez-Andújar
- Departament of Plant Nutrition, Center of Edaphology and Applied Biology of the Segura (CEBAS), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain
| | - Paul D. Fraser
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham Hill, United Kingdom
| | - Paul Christou
- Applied Plant Biotechnology Group, Department de Producció Vegetal I Ciència Florestal, Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria Agroalimentària i Forestal i de Veterinària (ETSEAFiV), Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain
- Agrotecnio Centres de Recerca de Catalunya (CERCA) Center, Lleida, Spain
- ICREA, Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Teresa Capell
- Applied Plant Biotechnology Group, Department de Producció Vegetal I Ciència Florestal, Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria Agroalimentària i Forestal i de Veterinària (ETSEAFiV), Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain
- Agrotecnio Centres de Recerca de Catalunya (CERCA) Center, Lleida, Spain
| | - Rui Alves
- Systems Biology Group, Department Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Biomedica de Lleida (IRBLleida), Lleida, Spain
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