Chemicals via Higher Plant Bioengineering

278 Pages·2012·38.584 MB·English

by  Fereidoon Shahidi, Paul Kolodziejczyk, John R. Whitaker, Agustin Lopez Munguia, Glenn Fuller

CHEMICALS VIA HIGHER
PLANT BIOENGINEERING
ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY
Editorial Board:
NATHAN BACK, State University of New York at Buffalo
IRUN R. COHEN, The Weizmann Institute of Science
DAVID KRITCHEVSKY, Wistar Institute
ABEL LAJTHA, N. S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Resear:ch
RODOLFO PAOLETTI, University of Milan
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CHEMICALS VIA HIGHER PLANT BIOENGINEERING
Edited by Fereidoon Shahidi, Paul Kolodziejczyk, John R. Whitaker,
Agustin Lope2 Munguia, and Glenn Fuller
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CHEMICALS VIA HIGHER
PLANT BIOENGINEERING
Edited by
Fereidoon Shahidi
Memorial University 01 Newloundland
St. lohn. Newloundland, Canada
Paul Kolodziejczyk
POS Pilot Plant Corporation
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
John R. Whitaker
University 01 California
Davis, Califomia
Agustin Lopez Munguia
Institute 01 Biotechnology-UNAM
Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
and
Glenn Fuller
USDA/ARS
Albany, California
Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
Based on proceedings of a symposium on Chemieals via Higher Plant Bioengineering,
held at the 5th North American Chemical Congress, November 11-15, 1997, in Cancun, Mexico
ISBN 978-1-4613-7143-4 ISBN 978-1-4615-4729-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4615-4729-7
©1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York
Originally published by Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers in 1999
Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1s t edition 1999
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanica1, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the
Publisher
PREFACE
Food and raw material for its production was generally produced via the traditional
agriculture. On the other hand, novel chemicals were manufactured in the laboratory or
extracted from plant and animal sources. However, as the world population is steadily in
creasing, there is a decrease in traditional agriculture productivity and concerns are also
expressed over the damage inflicted to the environment and restrictions that might be en
forced in food production. At the same time, there is an increasing demand for high qual
ity agricultural products as well as for food ingredients related to both the traditional or
newly discovered nutrients or phytochemicals.
Trends and developments,~n the area of plant biotechnology and bioengineering has
allowed manipulation of genes' !lnd/or insertion of new genes, thus production of trans
genic plants. Starting from the introduction of agronomic traits, particularly stress resis
tance to diverse environmental factors, process and sensory characteristics, food quality
and production of novel varieties of plant-based products through genetic engineering,
biotechnology is changing the,;agriculture and the concept of production of plant-ba~~d
raw materials. Increasing attention is being paid on research for production of plants !pat
can provide a wide array of food and non-food products. Perhaps the first non-food pro,d
uct that plant biotechnology would achieve is production of large scale custom-designed
industrial oils, but the list of chemicals is long, ranging" from oils and specific triacyl
glycerols to biopolymers, enzymes, blood components, amo~g others.
This monograph assembles the latest developments in plant biotechnology as pre
sented by lead scientists during the Fifth Chemical Congress of North America held in No
vember 1997 in Cancun or subsequently solicited by the editors. It emphasizes the
production of chemicals' from higher plants, but also includes fundamental aspects of plant
biochemistry. We are grateful to all contributors for their outstanding efforts that made the
production of this state-of-the-art monograph possible.
Fereidoon Shahidi
Paul P. Kolodziejczyk
John R. Whitaker
Augustin Lopez Munguia
Glenn Fuller
v
CONTENTS
1. Novel Chemicals from Plants via Bioengineering ........................ .
Paul P. Kolodziejczyk and Fereidoon Shahidi
2. Recent Progress in Agricultural Biotechnology and Opportunities for Contract
Research and Development ..................................... 5
Paul P. Kolodziejczyk and Paul Fedec
3. Manipulation of Plant Oil Composition for the Production of Valuable Chemicals 21
Denis J. Murphy
4. Biosynthesis of Ricinoleate in Castor Oil ............................... 37
Thomas A. McKeon, Jiann-Tsyh Lin, and Allan E. Stafford
5. Monoterpenes in Essential Oils 49
Herminia Loza-Tavera
6. Biochemical and Molecular Tools for the Production of Useful Terpene Products
from Pepper (Capsicum annuum) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Edmundo Lozoya-Gloria
7. Towards the Production of Salt-Tolerant Crops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
B. J. Barkla, R. Vera-Estrella, and O. Pantoja
8. Combinatorial Chemistry and Its Applications in Agriculture and Food 91
Dominic W. S. Wong and George H. Robertson
9. Biological Nitrogen Fixation and Future Challenges of Agriculture. . . . . . . . . . . 107
Federico Sanchez, Luis Cardenas, and Carmen Quinto
10. Molecular Strategies to Improve the Nutritional Quality of Legume Proteins 117
Benito O. de Lumen, Alfredo F. Galvez, M. Jamela Revilleza, and
Deanne C. Krenz
11. Molecular Farming of Industrial Proteins from Transgenic Maize ............ 127
Elizabeth E. Hood, Ann Kusnadi, Zivko Nikolov, and John A. Howard
vii
viii Contents
12. Improvements in Human Health through Production of Human Milk Proteins in
Transgenic Food Plants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Takeshi Arakawa, Daniel K. X. Chong, Charles W. Slattery, and
William H. R. Langridge
13. Food Plant-Delivered Cholera Toxin B Subunit for Vaccination and
Immunotolerization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Takeshi Arakawa, Jie Yu, and William H. R. Langridge
14. Autoantigens Produced in Plants for Oral Tolerance Therapy of Autoimmune
Diseases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Shengwu Ma and A. M. Jevnikar
15. Production of Food Related Colorants by Culture of Plant Cells 195
A. Jimenez-Aparicio and G. Gutierrez-Lopez
16. Production of Recombinant Blood Factors in Transgenic Plants 211
Manfred Theisen
17. Recent Progress in Biotechnology of Mexican Medicinal Plants ............. 221
Ma. Luisa Villarreal, Pilar Nicasio, Gabriela Rojas, Laura Alvarez, and
Rodolfo Quintero
18. Chemicals from Roots, Hairy Roots, and Their Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 235
B. Canto-CancM and V. M. Loyola-Vargas
Index 277
1
NOVEL CHEMICALS FROM PLANTS VIA
BIOENGINEERING
An Overview
Paul P. Kolodziejczykl and Fereidoon ShahidP
IpOS Pilot Plant Corporation
118 Veterinary Road
Saskatoon, SK, S7N 2R4, Canada
2Department of Biochemistry
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, NF, AlB 3X9, Canada
ABSTRACT
Novel chemicals were traditionally extracted from medicinal plants or produced
synthetically. However, new development in the field of bioengineering has allowed pro
duction of novel products from plants such as edible and industrial oils as well as specific
chemicals which could be used as foods with remedial effects.
INTRODUCTION
Traditional production of novel chemicals took place in the laboratory and process
ing plants. However, developments in the production of genetically-modified plants as
well as transgenic animals and microorgenisms have gained popularity in recent years. As
an example, production of canola, a genetically altered rapeseed allowed reduction of eru
cic acid from 25-50% to less than I % and glucosinolates to minute quantities (Kott et aI.,
1990; Shahidi et aI., 1997). As a result, canola has become the third most important world
source of vegetable oil after soybean and palm.
Introduction of new genes to canola has allowed production of an array of specialty
oils and even re-introduction of erucic acid to the oils for selected products (Figure 1,
Murphy, 1994). Thus, use of plants as vehicles for preparation of novel chemicals, includ
ing edible and industrial oils, is important.
F. Shahidi et al. (eds.), Chemicals via Higher Plant Bioengineering
© Kluwer Academic /Plenum Publishers, New York 1999
2 P. P. Kolodziejczyk and F. Shahidi
y-Linolenic acid
(Therapeutic products)
Vemolic acid Petroselinic acid
(Resins, coatings) \ (Polymers, detergents)
Ricinoleic acid 40% Stearic acid
(Lubricants, plasticizers, (Margarine, cocoa butter)
cosmetic, pharmaceuticals) DESIGNER
CANOLA
90% Erucic acid 40% Lauric acid
(Polymers, cosmetics (Detergents)
inks, pharmaceuticals)
Jojoba wax
(Cosmetics, lubricants) (Polymers, cosmetics
inks, pharmaceuticals)
60% Oleic acid
(Margarine, shortenings
cooking oils)
Figure 1. Designer canola varieties produced or under development. Adapted from Murphy, 1994.
MOLECULAR FARMING AND PLANT BIOREACTORS
Plant bioreactors are plant or plant cell cultures that have been genetically engi
neered to produce novel chemicals. The horizons of potential applications of biotechnol
ogy reaches far beyond the traditional meaning of agriculture. Proprietary technologies
may position companies as producers and suppliers of bulk products to the biopharmaceu
tical and enzyme industries. Current development is focused not only on high-value thera
peutic proteins, edible vaccines and antibodies for human immunotherapy, but also on
industrial applications like the production of enzymes for food and feed additives, engi
neering plants in order to produce specially designed seed which can be used as a delivery
vehicle for industrial enzymes or specialty oils (Kolodziejczyk, 1998).
As a result of genetic engineering, plants can be used as versatile, renewable and
low-cost source of molecules previously not available from plant sources, The number of
compounds that have been successfully produced in transgenic crops is steadily increasing
as novel genes involved in specific biosynthetic pathways are identified and inserted into
commercially important crops. Transgenic plants offer the potential to be one of the most
economical systems for large scale production of proteins intended for industrial, pharma
ceutical, veterinary and agriculture use. A number of mammalian proteins with therapeutic
potential have been expressed in transgenic plants.
Using antibodies as drugs is not new, however, these antibodies are usually manu
factured in cloned animal cells. There are two serious risks related to using animal cell
originated antibodies. First is the possibility of allergic reactions due to the presence of
traces of foreign antibodies (animal not human) in the drug; second, is the possible con
tamination of therapeutics by animal pathogens, viruses and proteins such as Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) commonly known as the mad cow disease, which has
recently become more evident. This is an important safety issue since plants do not serve
as hosts for human pathogens (Ma, 1995).
Novel Chemicals .from Plants via Bioengineering 3
The cost of production is also an important factor. Cloned animal cells are very inef
ficient production facilities. The cost of operating the fermentors is also extremely high.
On the contrary, production of protein in plants is inexpensive. However, efficient extrac
tion and purification processes need to be developed to produce large quantities of recom
binant proteins from field grown transgenic plants. Typically, a recombinant protein is
expressed in plant seed which is indistinguishable from that in normal seeds. When
needed, the seed is processed and the recombinant protein is enzymatically or chemically
cleaved from the plant derived protein. Usually, the recombinant protein might be stored
in the seed for prolonged periods of time without any deterioration. This is another advan
tage over animal cell production which requires instant processing and purification.
Environmental concerns might also drive the development of new technologies. The
impact of production and disposal of millions of tons of non-degradable material is taxing.
Promising opportunities are provided by the breakthroughs in transgenic technologies, al
lowing production of very large volumes of biotechnology driven products at modest costs
and low emission of pollutants. Traditional chemical technology of plastics production is
based mainly on non-renewable petrochemicals and high energy input, accompanied by
the undesirable emission of carbon dioxide and other gases. Now specialized agriculture
offers new exciting opportunities, plants are considered a renewable source of input mate~
rial and they do not emit environmental pollutants. On the contrary, plants in their biosyn
thesis use the energy from sun and absorb carbon dioxide from the environment.
Lately, microbial polyesters (the polyhydroxyalkanoates) have been developed.
These materials might be produced as a spin-off in oil crops. When appropriate polymeri
zation, molecular weight control and economically sound recovery procedures are devel
oped, the biodegradable plastics from agriculture might become cost competitive with
petrochemical polymers.
The population explosion is an obvious fact of our time. World population will grow
from 2.5 billion in 1950 to 9.8 billion in the year 2050. At the same time the cultivated
area per person will diminish from 0.22 to 0.05 ha. It is obvious that new highly efficient
plants for both human nutrition.and animal feed are needed. Recently, new GMO (Geneti
cally Modified Organisms) or transgenic microorganisms, plants and animals are getting a
lot of publicity and are appearing on the covers of major magazines. They create real ex
citement in the mass media, as their impact reaches far beyond the scientific or techno
logical aspects. The public safety, ethical and environmental issues, and international trade
barriers linked to the GMO are subjects of hot debates, violent demonstrations and gov
ernmental actions.
The legislation related to the use of biotechnology in agriculture, especially in food
production and processing, differs from country to country. Several countries are currently
reviewing their biosafety legislation and attempts are made to har'monize such legislation
globally.
It is obvious that populus of countries experiencing overproduction of agriculture
products, such as those in Europe and North America, will differ in their perception of
bioengineered plants from those in the developing countries where food is in short supply
and lives of millions of people are threatened by malnutrition and starvation. Therefore, it
is not surprising that large multinational chemical companies have recently entered into
biotech and seed market. The agricultural technology business is undergoing an unprece
dented wave of consolidation. A few big players, all large chemical and pharmaceutical
firms, are buying-up not only seed companies, but also the high quality agricultural
biotech companies. Megacorporations in agricultural biotechnology will not only yield