I am curious to know about the secondary metabolism of protoplast fusion plants (Different species Ex. One plant from Fabaceae and another one from Asteraceae). Is it possible to do this and how the fusion plant expresses the secondary metabolites?. Does the fusion plant will have both secondary metabolites?
Dear Jai Ghosh
I am curious to know about the secondary metabolism of protoplast fusion plants (Different species Ex. One plant from Fabaceae and another one from Asteraceae). Is it possible to do this and how the fusion plant expresses the secondary metabolites?. Does the fusion plant have both secondary metabolites?
Dear Rajaram,
In such a taxonomically wide fusion, you will end up with massive chromosome elimination of one of the two plants during plant regeneration, if any plant regeneration is possible at all. So the metabolic profile will strongly depend on the chromosomes that are retained. We did partial genome transfer studies with potato as donor and tomato as acceptor via MMCT fusion. Some plants expressed the anthocyanin pathway, which is not present in tomato. Chromosome elimination can be directed by damaging the donor genome by irradiation (gamma, X-ray or UV) before fusion. A wide body of literature is available, mostly mid 80s and 90s. However, the technique was largely abandoned but is coming back in the last few years.
I think such fusions where protoplasts of two diverse plant taxa are involved as partners are relevant and logical in two situation. First when pathway complementation is an objective or a limiting enzyme of a targeted metabolic route is is coded and over-expressed by cytoplasmic gene residing in the other partner. By pathway complementation I mean that the two partner species share a common up-stream pathway steps and limitation of one is complemented by other. The final products in the two plants arising out of two pathways might ultimately be different due to down-stream chemical specialization. Emphasis should always be placed on the metabolite profile of any one of the parent at a time when screening the fusion products. We can discuss it in detail at any time.
Dear Ajay
Thank you for your answer
I am writing thesis. I want to continue like this work after my Ph.D. I kindly need your valuable suggestion and support in this area.
Well, see whether the phenotypic expression of these secondary metabolites with which you are working, occur under homozygous or heterozygous conditions and then accordingly you will know which one is dominant and which is recessive or whether both are dominant or recessive. These investigations will give you the answer you are looking for.
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