SummaryFlavonoids are a large family of plant polyphenolic secondary metabolites. Although they are widespread throughout the plant kingdom, some flavonoid classes are specific for only a few plant species. Due to their presumed health benefits there is growing interest in the development of food crops with tailor-made levels and composition of flavonoids, designed to exert an optimal biological effect. In order to explore the possibilities of flavonoid engineering in tomato fruits, we have targeted this pathway towards classes of potentially healthy flavonoids which are novel for tomato. Using structural flavonoid genes (encoding stilbene synthase, chalcone synthase, chalcone reductase, chalcone isomerase and flavone synthase) from different plant sources, we were able to produce transgenic tomatoes accumulating new phytochemicals. Biochemical analysis showed that the fruit peel contained high levels of stilbenes (resveratrol and piceid), deoxychalcones (butein and isoliquiritigenin), flavones (luteolin-7-glucoside and luteolin aglycon) and flavonols (quercetin glycosides and kaempferol glycosides). Using an online high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) antioxidant detection system, we demonstrated that, due to the presence of the novel flavonoids, the transgenic tomato fruits displayed altered antioxidant profiles. In addition, total antioxidant capacity of tomato fruit peel with high levels of flavones and flavonols increased more than threefold. These results on genetic engineering of flavonoids in tomato fruit demonstrate the possibilities to change the levels and composition of health-related polyphenols in a crop plant and provide more insight in the genetic and biochemical regulation of the flavonoid pathway within this worldwide important vegetable.

The nucleotide sequence of pelB, a member of the Aspergillus niger pectin lyase multigene family, has been determined. The pelB gene product, PLB, shares 65% amino acid identity with pectin lyase A (PLA) and 60% with pectin lyase D (PLD). Although growth of pelB multicopy transformants on pectin-containing media results in elevated pelB mRNA levels, pectin lyase B (PLB) is barely detectable. This is probably due to degradation of PLB by acid proteases, since multicopy transformants grown on pectin medium with a high concentration of phosphate, leading to a less rapid decline in pH, secrete detectable amounts of PLB. To produce PLB in high amounts under conditions where few other extracellular enzymes are present, we tried two strategies. Firstly, heterologous expression of the pelB gene in A. nidulans, and secondly, expression of the pelB gene under control of the constitutive A. niger pki promoter.

Tetraploid wheat (durum wheat) is mainly used for the preparation of pasta. As a result of breeding, thousands of tetraploid wheat varieties exist, but also tetraploid landraces are still maintained and used for local food preparations. Gluten proteins present in wheat can induce celiac disease, a T-cell mediated auto-immune disorder, in genetically predisposed individuals after ingestion. Compared to hexaploid wheat, tetraploid wheat might be reduced in T-cell stimulatory epitopes that cause celiac disease because of the absence of the D-genome. We tested gluten protein extracts from 103 tetraploid wheat accessions (obtained from the Dutch CGN genebank and from the French INRA collection) including landraces, old, modern, and domesticated accessions of various tetraploid species and subspecies from many geographic origins. Those accessions were typed for their level of T-cell stimulatory epitopes by immunoblotting with monoclonal antibodies against the α-gliadin epitopes Glia-α9 and Glia-α20. In the first selection, we found 8 CGN and 6 INRA accessions with reduced epitope staining. Fourteen of the 57 CGN accessions turned out to be mixed with hexaploid wheat, and 5 out of the 8 selected CGN accessions were mixtures of two or more different gluten protein chemotypes. Based on single seed analysis, lines from two CGN accessions and one INRA accession were obtained with significantly reduced levels of Glia-α9 and Glia-α20 epitopes. These lines will be further tested for industrial quality and may contribute to the development of safer foods for celiac patients.