The plants’ biochemical mechanisms of defence are wide-ranging, highly dynamic, and mediated by both direct and indirect methods. These compounds or enzymes are either produced in response to an external stimulus or produced constitutively. The cytochrome P450 is the largest enzymatic protein family in plants.
A bunch of researchers at Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Bio-sustainability, a research facility under the Technical University of Denmark have now developed a method of producing this specialized enzyme in Bacteria.
One of the researchers, Dario Vázquez-Albacete states that, “the new technique is a significant step forward, as plants produce P450 enzymes in very small amounts, extraction is very complex and sometimes we have to use polluting chemical synthesis processes which involve the use of oil derivatives. Additionally, some plant species such as the yew (Taxus baccata), from which the cancer drug Taxol is obtained, are endangered species.”
The method allows for tools which will facilitate the recognition of the proteins from plants that produce these compounds by the bacterial cell machinery. This same method when applied to bacteria which are capable of rapid growth in controlled fermenters will result in large-scale production of the enzyme.
Vázquez-Albacete says that “in order for the bacteria
to properly express the enzymes, the corresponding DNA sequence must frequently be modified to facilitate ‘decoding’ by the bacteria’s system.”In the study, using this particular method, the researchers have been able to produce over 50 P450 enzymes from different plants in E.coli in the lab.
The pharmaceutical industries have already shown a great deal of interest in this project and technique.
