申请人:Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur
Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
公开号:EP2055782A1
公开(公告)日:2009-05-06
The present invention broadly relates to the field of agronomy. In particular, the present invention is directed to methods specifically designed to improve the crop of laticiferous plants or parts thereof.
According to one basic principle of the invention, it was found that a major component of the latex protein of the laticiferous Taraxacum species is represented by a polyphenoloxidase (PPO) and that latex polymerisation depends predominantly on polyphenoloxidase (PPO) activity. Indeed, a comparison of latex flow and the presence of a PPO revealed that latex exhibiting strong PPO activity polymerises rapidly, whereas reduced PPO activity results in a sequential reduction or delay of latex polymerisation. On the basis of these findings, genetically modified dandelion plants were established that showed down-regulation of the PPO activity via RNA interference resulting in a strong delay in latex polymerisation.
Thus and in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method for improving the crop of latex from laticiferous plants or parts thereof, wherein the improvement consists in using laticiferous plants or parts thereof in which the latex-specific polyphenoloxidase activity, as compared to the respective wild-type or untreated plant or part thereof, is significantly reduced or eliminated.
Furthermore, there are provided genetically modified laticiferous plants and parts thereof showing reduced or eliminated latex-specific polyphenoloxidase activity.
本发明广泛涉及农学领域。特别是,本发明涉及专门用于改良石蒜科植物或其部分作物的方法。
根据本发明的一个基本原理,研究人员发现,多叶植物 Taraxacum 种类的乳胶蛋白的主要成分是多酚氧化酶 (PPO),而乳胶的聚合主要取决于多酚氧化酶 (PPO) 的活性。事实上,通过比较乳胶的流动性和 PPO 的存在,可以发现 PPO 活性强的乳胶聚合速度快,而 PPO 活性弱的乳胶聚合速度会逐渐减慢或延迟。根据这些研究结果,建立了转基因蒲公英植物,该植物通过 RNA 干扰下调 PPO 活性,导致胶乳聚合的强烈延迟。
因此,根据本发明,提供了一种用于改善有叶植物或其部分的胶乳作物的方法,其中的改进包括使用有叶植物或其部分,与相应的野生型或未经处理的植物或其部分相比,其中的胶乳特异性多酚氧化酶活性显著降低或消失。
此外,还提供了转基因叶菜类植物及其部分,它们显示出乳胶特异性多酚氧化酶活性降低或消失。