Euroscicon, United Kingdom
16 November 2012
9:00 – 9:45 Registration 9:45 – 10:00 Introduction by the Chair: Professor Robert Edwards , Chief Scientist, The Food and Environment Research Agency 10:00 – 10:30 TBC Professor John Ward, University College London, United Kingdom 10:30 – 11:00 Cultured cambial meristematic cells as a source of plant natural products Professor Gary Loake, The University of Edinburgh, Scotland A plethora of important, chemically diverse natural products are derived from plants. In principle, plant cell culture offers an attractive option for producing many of these compounds. However, it is often not commercially viable because of difficulties associated with culturing dedifferentiated plant cells (DDCs) on an industrial scale. To bypass the dedifferentiation step, we isolated and cultured innately undifferentiated cambial meristematic cells (CMCs). Using a combination of deep sequencing technologies, we identified marker genes and transcriptional programs consistent with a stem cell identity. This notion was further supported by the morphology of CMCs, their hypersensitivity to γ-irradiation and radiomimetic drugs and their ability to differentiate at high frequency. Suspension culture of CMCs derived from Taxus cuspidata, the source of the key anticancer drug, paclitaxel (Taxol), circumvented obstacles routinely associated with the commercial growth of DDCs. These cells may provide a cost-effective and environmentally friendly platform for sustainable production of a variety of important plant natural products. 11:00 – 11:30 Speakers’ photo then mid-morning break and trade show Please try to visit all the exhibition stands during your day at this event. Not only do our sponsors enable Euroscicon to keep the registration fees competitive, but they are also here specifically to talk to you 11:30 – 12:00 Engineering flavonoid metabolism in yeast
Professor Robert Edwards , Chief Scientist, The Food and Environment Research Agency
Phenylpropanoids are simple aromatic natural products found in all plants which are used as the building blocks for a wide range of polyphenols including a diverse array of flavonoids with activities as diverse as dietary cytoprotectants, colourants and flavour enhancers. Using polyprotein technology we have engineered bakers’ yeast to transform readily available phenylpropanoids left over from brewing and biofuel production into high value flavonoids, including glycosylated derivatives with uses as artificial sweeteners. The approach adopted shows the value of effectively transferring plant metabolic pathways into non-natural hosts to extend the diversity of end products which can be generated in useful quantities. 12:00 – 12;30 Metabolic engineering of high value lipids in transgenic plants
Professor Johnathan Napier, Rothamsted Research Limited, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Using genetic engineering it is now possible to generate transgenic plants which have the capacity to synthesise high value fatty acids such as the omega-3 long chain polyunsaturates. 12:30 – 13:30 Lunch and trade show This is also a good time to fill out your feedback forms 13:30– 14:30 Question and Answer Session Delegates will be asked to submit questions to a panel of experts. Questions can be submitted before the event or on the day 14:30 – 15:00 Afternoon Tea/Coffee and trade show 15:00 – 15:30 A ten gene cluster responsible for synthesis of the anticancer alkaloid noscapine in opium poppy Professor Ian Graham, CNAP Director and Weston Chair of Biochemical Genetics, University of York, United Kingdom Noscapine is an antitumor alkaloid from opium poppy that binds tubulin, arrests metaphase and induces apoptosis in dividing human cells. We recently discovered a cluster of 10 genes encoding five distinct enzyme classes that are responsible for noscapine production in poppy (Winzer et al., Science, 2012). Virus induced gene silencing resulted in accumulation of pathway intermediates allowing a novel biosynthetic pathway to be proposed. This advance adds to our knowledge of gene clusters in plants and will enable improvement in commercial production of noscapine and related bioactive molecules. 15:30 - 16:00 Genome mining and metabolic engineering for triterpene synthesis
Professor Anne Osbourn, Associate Research Director, John Innes Centre
Plants produce a huge array of natural products, many of which are specialised metabolites associated with particular species. These secondary metabolites often have important ecological functions. Although the ability of plants to perform in vivo combinatorial chemistry by mixing, matching and evolving the genes required for different secondary metabolite biosynthetic pathways is likely to have been critical for survival and diversification of the Plant Kingdom we know very little about the mechanisms underpinning this process. This talk will focus on plant natural product function and synthesis, the origins of metabolic diversity and potential for metabolic engineering, drawing on our research on triterpene synthesis in crop and model plants. Triterpenes have important ecological and agronomic functions, contributing to pest and pathogen resistance and to food quality in crop plants. They also have a wide range of commercial applications in the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical sectors. 16:00 – 16:30 Chairman’s summing up
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