MSc Defence: Nora Lincheid

Name of MSc candidate

Anna Eleonora Linscheid

Title of thesis

Towards rationally engineering specialized metabolite transport in plants

Summary

Specialized natural compounds in plants are of high interest for medicine, industry and agriculture. However, they are often produced in low quantities, and genetic engineering approaches that target biosynthetic pathways are often limited by feedback inhibition mechanisms or toxic effects exerted by over-accumulation of final products. Targeting membrane transporters potentially represents an important strategy to remove a given end-product from its place of synthesis and thereby boost biosynthesis by alleviating feedback inhibition and potential toxic effects. The recent identification of the proton coupled glucosinolate transporters (GTRs) makes it possible for the first time to systematically study transport engineering of specialized metabolites. In my master thesis, I engineered the glucosinolate transport pathway using an over-expression approach. Additionally, I characterized a hyperactive GTR mutant in Xenopus oocytes with the purpose of understanding the underlying biophysical changes in energy-coupling and substrate specificity. The project marks important first steps towards engineering transport pathways of plant natural compounds, as well as understanding transport rate in GTRs and related proteins.

External examiner

Osman Mirza, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen

Supervisor

Hussam Nour-Eldin, DynaMo, University of Copenhagen