Plants biosynthesize a wide variety of compounds
October 4, 2009 – 4:48 pmPlants biosynthesize a wide variety of compounds by processes that involve enzymes. In the plant kingdom as a whole, it has been reported that at least 200,000 different compounds are synthesized. We utilize some of these compounds in foods and medicines. However, the biosynthetic processes in plants so far remain black boxes, says Toshiya Muranaka, Senior Visiting Scientist in the Metabolic Diversity Research Team of the Metabolic Function Research Group, RIKEN Plant Science Center. He is working to elucidate plant biosynthetic pathways and design the same pathways artificially with the aim of achieving the highly efficient production of useful compounds. He is also interested in creating new compounds with enhanced functionality compared to those found in the original plant.