Methods of and compositions for modifying the levels of secondary metabolic compounds in plants

摘要

The present invention provides a method of making a genetically transformed plant which has an altered content of at least one product of a secondary metabolic pathway. The method consists of introducing into a plant cell capable of being transformed and regenerated to a whole plant a DNA expression cassette. The expression cassette includes DNA sequences required for transformation and selection in plant cells. It also includes a DNA sequence that, under the control of a promoter active in plant cells, encodes a protein capable of modifying the utilization of a substrate in the secondary metabolic pathway. The substrate is not a primary metabolite of the group selected from glucose, amino acids, common fatty acids and nucleotides. A plant or plant tissues including seeds can then be recovered having an altered content of at least one product of the secondary metabolic pathway. The invention also provides for feed products derived from the plants and seeds obtained according to the method.