Functional genomics to isolate genes involved in fragrance production for genetic engineering of scent in flowers

Efraim Lewinsohn, Moshe Shalit, David Gang, Noa Lavid, Einat Bar, David Weiss, Alexander Vainstein, Zach Adam, Dani Zamir, Natalia Dudareva, Michele Zaccai Sabatani, James E. Simon

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

Scents of flowers are usually made of mixtures of hundreds (or even thousands) of volatile compounds, normally emitted from flowers to attract pollinators. Different varieties of the same plant may emit a completely different array of compounds (Vainstein et al., 2001). Not only the presence or absence of an individual component might affect a particular flower scent, at times the same compound might have an agreeable or disagreeable scent depending on its concentration. Most of the research in flower scent has been aimed at elucidating the chemical structures of key scent components and in attempting their chemical synthesis for use in the perfumery and cosmetics industries. Despite the vast number of chemical structures involved, the large majority of scent compounds are biosynthesized by a surprisingly small number of metabolic pathways. These metabolic pathways are often ubiquitous, and specialization has developed through small but important modifications of ancestral genes and pathways (Pichersky and Gang, 2000).
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPlant biotechnology 2002 and beyond
Subtitle of host publicationProceedings of the 10th IAPTC&B Congress June 23–28, 2002 Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.
EditorsI.K. Vasil
PublisherSpringer, Dordrecht
Pages329-332
ISBN (Electronic)9789401726795
ISBN (Print)9789048162208, 9781402011269
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2003

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