VIRAL AMPLIFICATION OF RECOMBINANT MESSENGER RNA IN TRANSGENIC PLANTS

PLANTS ARE AN INEXPENSIVE SOURCE OF COMPLEX MOLECULES. SEVERAL INDUSTRIES ARE BASED ON CHEMICAL FEEDSTOCKS OF PLANT ORIGIN, RANGING FROM FLAVORS TO PHARMACEUTICALS. THE BIOSYNTHETIC RANGING FROM FLAVORS TO PHARMACEUTICALS. THE BIOSYNTHETIC PATHWAYS OF PLANTS MAY BE MORE EFFECTIVELY MANIPULATED THROUGH VIRAL GENE AMPLIFICATION THAN BY CONVENTIONAL GENETIC ENGINEERING. RESEARCHERS ARE AMPLIFYING SPECIFIC TARGET RNAS IN TRANSGENIC PLANTS BASED ON VIRAL RNA REPLICATION. THE VIRAL REPLICATION ORIGINS OF TOBACCO MOSAIC VIRUS ARE BEING COMBINED WITH AN INTERNAL TARGET SEQUENCE TO BE AMPLIFIED. RECOMBINANT MESSENGER RNA IS BEING SYNTHESIZED FROM A GENE INSERTED INTO THE TOBACO CHROMOSOME UNDER TRANSCRIPTIONAL CONTROL OF A NOMINALLY CONSTITUTIVE PROMOTER. IN THE PRESENCE OF HELPER VIRUS THIS CHIMERIC RNA IS BEING REPLICATED AS AN EPISOME. TO ESTABLISH TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY, RESEARCHERS ARE QUANTIFYING AMPLIFIED GENE EXPRESSION USING THE MESSENGER RNA FOR THE ENZYME CHLORAMPHENICOL ACETYLTRANSFERASE (CAT) AS A TARGET SEQUENCE. BECAUSE THE LEVELS OF AMPLIFICATION AND TIMING OF EXPRESSION ARE CONTROLLED BY THE HELPER VIRUS, THIS TECHNIQUE EXTENDS THE TYPES OF GENETIC MANIPULATIONS POSSIBLE IN TRANSGENIC CROPS. EFFICIENT PRODUCTION OF HIGH VALUE BIOCHEMICALS IN PLANTS ARE CREATING NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR DOMESTIC GROWERS AND STRENGTHENING THE ABILITY OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR TO COMPETE INTERNATIONALLY.