Cereals dicotyledonous plants

The latter substance, as is well known, interferes with nuclear division in plants. Temple-man and Sexton (35) showed that, contrary to the effects of the phenoxyacetic acids, the arylurethanes destroy cereals more readily than the dicotyledonous plants. 

Tentoxin 34 Alternaria tenuis [105] Induces chlorosis in many dicotyledone plants, except cereals, tomatoes, and members of the species Cmciferae and Graminaceae [106] Rich et al. [1071... 

In the quest to find other plants that are suitable as bioreactors, various monocoty-ledonous and dicotyledonous species have been tested. These include corn [16], rice and wheat [17], alfalfa [18], potato [19, 20], oilseed rape [21], pea [22], tomato [23] and soybean [24]. The major advantage of cereal crops is that recombinant proteins can be directed to accumulate in seeds, which are evolutionar specialized for storage and thus protect proteins from proteolytic degradation. Recombinant proteins are reported to remain stable in seeds for up to five months at room temperature [17] and for at least three years at refrigerator temperature without significant loss of activity [25]. In addition, the seed proteome is less complex than the leaf proteome, which makes purification quicker and more economical [26]. 

These compounds are of particular interest since many of them have poisonous properties. In plants, their presence is restricted to a few orders of the dicotyledons. A number of the more important alkaloids, with their sources, are listed in Table 4.3. The alkaloid in ragwort, for example, attacks the liver and much of this organ can be destroyed before symptoms appear. Another nutritionally significant source of alkaloids is the fungus ergot, which grows on cereal grains (see Chapter 22). 

Typical representatives are - com and millet species, miscanthus (- China grass) and other tropical grasses. With - genetic engineering techniques, it has been attempted to transfer this characteristic to C3 -+ cereals. Examples of c. within the - dicotyledonous classes of plants are Atriplex and Falveria, which actually include both C3 and C4 species. 

---