Biotechnologies gene function determination

Based on these mechanisms a new frontier in the application of enzymes to biotechnology, including the development of synthetic enzymes (synzymes)82,83 will be exploited. Research on structure-function relationships between ribozymes and abzymes will lead to the development of a number of sequence specific catalysts, which will control expression of a specific gene or its products, and eventually to application as pathogen controls in agriculture and to clinical use. Sequence specific abzymes may also facilitate research on the primary structure determination of protein. 

The biosynthesis of TIAs in C. roseus is extraordinarily complex, involving more than 50 metabolic steps to synthesize the most important alkaloids. To date, only about 20 of the 50 enzymes required for their biosynthesis have been determined and characterized [2]. Thus, there are still a number of important enzymes that need to be characterized, which can only be done after the isolation and cloning of the relevant genes. It is also of fundamental importance to elucidate the regulatory aspects of TIA biosynthesis, both at the cellular and the molecular level, in order to address the question of their function in the plants and to improve their production by biotechnological approaches. 

---