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Production of recombinant proteins in plant root exudates

Nature Biotechnology volume 17, pages 466–469 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

The large-scale production of recombinant proteins in plants is limited by relatively low yields and difficulties in extraction and purification. These problems were addressed by engineering tobacco plants to continuously secrete recombinant proteins from their roots into a simple hydroponic medium. Three heterologous proteins of diverse origins (green fluorescent protein of jellyfish, human placental alkaline phosphatase [SEAP], and bacterial xylanase) were produced using the root secretion method (rhizosecretion). Protein secretion was dependent on the presence of the endoplasmic reticulum signal peptide fused to the recombinant protein sequence. All three secreted proteins retained their biological activity and, as shown for SEAP, accumulated in much higher amounts in the medium than in the root tissue.

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Figure 1: Rhizosecretion of bacterial xylanase from transgenic tobacco.
Figure 2: Rhizosecretion of GFP from transgenic tobacco.
Figure 3: Rhizosecretion of SEAP from transgenic tobacco.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Uwe Sonnewald (Institut fuer Pflanzengenetik, Gatersleben, Germany), Christoph Reichel (Max-Planck Institut fuer Zuechtungsforschung, Koeln, Germany), William Ward and Ralf Kneer (Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ), Andrei Golovko (American Cyanamid Corporation, Princeton, NJ), and Stephen Meyer (GEM Biomedical MGM Instruments, Hamden, CT) for technical assistance and advice. This research was supported by Photosynthetic Harvest Inc., International Institute of Cell Biology (Kiev, Ukraine), NJ Agricultural Experimental Station, and the NJ Commission for Science and Technology. I. Raskin has equity in Photosynthetic Harvest Inc.

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Author notes

  1. Nikolai V. Borisjuk and Ludmyla G. Borisjuk: The first two authors contributed equally to this research.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biotech Center, Foran Hall, Cook College, Rutgers University , New Brunswick, 08901-8520, NJ

    Nikolai V. Borisjuk, Ludmyla G. Borisjuk, Sithes Logendra & Ilya Raskin

  2. Deptartment of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Cook College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, 08903-0231, NJ

    Frank Petersen

  3. Institute of Cell Biology and Genetic Engineering, DSP-22, Kyiv, 252650, Ukraine

    Yuri Gleba

Authors
  1. Nikolai V. Borisjuk
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Correspondence to Ilya Raskin.

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Borisjuk, N., Borisjuk, L., Logendra, S. et al. Production of recombinant proteins in plant root exudates. Nat Biotechnol 17, 466–469 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/8643

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