Research Overview
The flavonoid pathway and our research.
 

Flavonoids belong to the group of plant polyphenols. They are low molecular weight compounds comprised of three-ring structure with various substitutions. More than 5000 different natural flavonoids have been described. The six major subclasses of flavonoids include the flavones, flavonols, flavanones, flavanols, anthocyanidins, and isoflavones. Flavonoids have many functions in biochemistry, physiology and ecology of plants and also play important roles in human nutrition. Recently, interest in the possible health benefits of flavonoids has increased due to their potent antioxidant and anti-radical scavenging activities observed in vitro. The protective effect of consumption of flavonoids towards cardiovascular disease and cancer draw much attention to their large-scale production for pharmaceutical application.

The common bacteria Escherichia coli and yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been used in a number of biotechnological applications to produce high-value chemicals. Our group has developed E. coli and S. cerevisiae strains that are capable of synthesizing flavonoids which are originally synthesized in plants. The recombinant technology was built through introducing multi-gene plant biosynthetic pathways in the microorganisms. Isolating genes from various plant sources and activating protein synthesis in the microorganisms resulted in the synthesis of various flavonoids.

Figure: Engineering plant biosynthetic pathway in microorganisms for the synthesis of novel metabolites.

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