Enzyme in Plants Discovery Leads to New Light on Antioxidants
The knowledge obtained in the new studies could lead to a range of benefits, including better understanding of the cancer-fighting properties of plant pigments and new, natural food colorings.
The scientists, at the John Innes Centre and Institute of Food Research in Norwich, have pinpointed a key group of enzymes involved in the production of plant pigments.
Plant pigment are critical to plants as they attract insects and foraging animals. These pigments are called anthocyanins. Besides helping the plant with attractions, anthocyanins also give plants protection against environmental stresses and disease. Hundreds of different anthocyanins exist in nature. Each function occurs through slightly different chemical compositions.
The international team of researchers who are supported by BBSRC in their studies of plant genetics has identified the genes responsible for producing the enzymes that chemically modify anthocyanins to alter their chemical composition properties in respect to the pigment's various functions.
Professor Cathie Martin at the John Innes Centre who co-led the project explains: "Using a new strategy, we conducted biochemical studies on the brassica plant Arabidopsis. We found that a small number of genes responsible for the enzymes that chemically modify anthocyanins were 'switched on' when the plants were making anthocyanins in response to stress.
"When we transferred these [newly identified] genes to a tobacco plant, the colour of the tobacco flowers changed slightly, confirming that these genes, and the enzymes that [these genes] produce, were indeed responsible for modifying anthocyanins [which produce pigment].
"What's more, these [tobacco plant] anthocyanins that had been modified by the enzymes [produced by the gene] were more stable than those anthocyanin pigments] that hadn't. This is significant because stabilised [pigment] anthocyanins could be used as natural food colourants to replace many artificial colours used in various foods. This improved understanding of the genetics of anthocyanins also provides a better platform for studying
Published by Kareyth Patrick
An insignificant essayist and poet breaking open the shell in travel writing and "green" ecological information and the occasional poem. View profile
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