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Research
Dr. Minto's Preproposal Abstract
The specific objective of this research is to isolate unusual membrane-bound acetylenase and desaturase genes from fungi. Plants that express unusual acetylenase and desaturase genes, in particular transgenic oil seeds, may provide a renewable source of anticancer and microbicidal agents and ìgreenî lubricating oils. Desaturase-like enzymes conferring antimicrobial, insecticidal or antifeedant phenotypes from specialty crops or fungi may be used to design crops with beneficial traits.
Homologs to the Crepis alpina acetylenase will be isolated from acetylene-producing Basidiomycete macrofungi. cDNA libraries of mycelia and fruitbodies from Fistulina hepatica, an edible mushroom found in Ohio, will be prepared and screened. Rescued plasmids will be sequenced to identify clones with regions of CREP-1/D12-desaturase homology and full-length DNA inserts will be subcloned into yeast expression vectors. Total fatty acid composition of the yeast clones will be analyzed to assign an initial function to the gene sequences. Through collaborations with other Ohio research groups, alternative transgenic crops containing the isolated acetylenase or desaturase genes can be tested for the economically beneficial traits.
Learn more about Dr. Minto and his research at Miami University.