科學家利用蘑菇的發(fā)光DNA，培育出發(fā)光植物

科學家利用蘑菇的發(fā)光DNA，培育出發(fā)光植物

Ornamental house plants with sustainably glowing leaves and flowers are now one step closer to reality, thanks to a breakthrough in which scientists leveraged the bioluminescent powers of mushrooms.

由于科學家利用蘑菇的生物發(fā)光能力取得了突破性進展，具有持續(xù)發(fā)光的葉子和花朵的室內(nèi)觀賞植物現(xiàn)在離現(xiàn)實又近了一步。

Glowing plants are nothing new, as scientists have previously achieved this by using bioluminescent genes found in bacteria. Trouble is, these plants don’t glow very brightly, which is probably why they haven’t caught on.

發(fā)光的植物并不是什么新鮮事，因為科學家以前已經(jīng)通過使用在細菌中發(fā)現(xiàn)的生物發(fā)光基因?qū)崿F(xiàn)了這一點。問題是，這些植物發(fā)光不太明亮，這可能是它們還沒有流行起來的原因。

New research published today in Nature Biotechnology describes a new technique, in which the DNA from bioluminescent mushrooms was used to create plants that glow 10 times brighter than their bacteria-powered precursors. Botanists could eventually use this technique to study the inner workings of plants, but it also introduces the possibility of glowing ornamental plants for our homes.

今天發(fā)表在《自然生物技術》雜志上的一項新研究描述了一種新技術，這種技術利用蘑菇發(fā)出的熒光DNA培育出比細菌發(fā)出的熒光亮10倍的植物。植物學家最終可能會使用這種技術來研究植物的內(nèi)部結(jié)構，但它也為我們的家庭提供了發(fā)光裝飾植物的可能性。

The new study, led by Karen Sarkisyan and Ilia Yampolsky from the Russian Academy of Sciences, describes tobacco plants that were genetically modified to express a recently discovered bioluminescent system found in mushrooms. Tobacco was chosen because these plants are genetically simple and grow quickly, but the new technique should work in other plant species as well.

這項由俄羅斯科學院的凱倫·薩基斯揚和伊利亞·亞姆波斯基領導的新研究，描述了經(jīng)過基因改造的煙草植物，以表達最近在蘑菇中發(fā)現(xiàn)的生物發(fā)光系統(tǒng)。之所以選擇煙草，是因為這些植物基因簡單，生長迅速，但這項新技術也適用于其他植物品種。

Key to the process is an organic molecule called caffeic acid, which is found in all plants. Two enzymes convert the caffeic acid into a luminescent precursor, which was then treated with a third enzyme, producing an oxidised molecule capable of shooting out photons, that is, light. Incredibly, the plants produced around 10 billion photons per minute at wavelengths that peaked between 500 and 550 nanometres (the green range of the visible light spectrum). Plants and mushrooms are not closely related, but the researchers leveraged a metabolic process compatible to both.

這個過程的關鍵是一種叫做咖啡酸的有機分子，它存在于所有的植物中。兩種酶將咖啡酸轉(zhuǎn)化為發(fā)光前體，然后用第三種酶處理，產(chǎn)生一種氧化分子，能夠發(fā)射出光子，即光。令人難以置信的是，這些植物每分鐘產(chǎn)生大約100億光子，波長在500到550納米之間達到峰值(可見光光譜的綠色范圍)。植物和蘑菇的關系并不密切，但研究人員利用了一種與兩者相容的代謝過程。

This resulted in self-sustaining bioluminescent plants, in which the plants produced their own glow without the introduction of foreign biochemicals. They glowed continuously throughout their life cycles, and the modification didn’t seem to harm their normal development and health. The glowing could be seen with the naked eye, appearing in leaves, stems, roots, and flowers of the bioengineered plants.

這就產(chǎn)生了能夠自我維持的生物發(fā)光植物，在這種植物中，植物在不引入外來生物化學物質(zhì)的情況下自己發(fā)光。它們在整個生命周期中不斷發(fā)光，這種改變似乎并沒有損害它們的正常發(fā)育和健康。這種發(fā)光現(xiàn)象可以用肉眼看到，出現(xiàn)在生物工程植物的葉、莖、根和花中。

The breakthrough could provide scientists with a new way of observing the inner workings of plants, such as monitoring their glow to study a plant’s metabolism. Interestingly, young plants glowed more brightly than older ones, and flowers turned out to be the most luminous part. Sometimes, the glows ebbed and flowed in patterns, hinting at unknown internal processes.

這項突破可以為科學家們提供一種觀察植物內(nèi)部活動的新方法，比如監(jiān)測植物的發(fā)光來研究植物的新陳代謝。有趣的是，年輕的植物比老的發(fā)光更亮，而花是最亮的部分。有時，這些發(fā)光的東西會以某種模式時隱時現(xiàn)，暗示著未知的內(nèi)部過程。

Excitingly, these plants could also be used for ornamental purposes. And indeed, that’s exactly what these scientists are thinking, as the research has spun off into a new company called Light Bio. The project itself was partly funded by Planta LLC, a biotech startup headquartered in Moscow, so commercial implications were very much in mind from the get-go. Other financial contributors included the Russian Science Foundation and the Skolkovo Foundation. A total of 27 contributors are listed as authors on the new paper.

令人興奮的是，這些植物也可以用作觀賞目的。事實上，這正是這些科學家所想的，因為這項研究已經(jīng)衍生出一家名為Light Bio的新公司。該項目本身的部分資金來自總部位于莫斯科的生物技術初創(chuàng)公司Planta LLC，因此從一開始就考慮了該項目的商業(yè)意義。其他捐款人包括俄羅斯科學基金會和斯科爾科沃基金會。共有27名貢獻者被列為新論文的作者。

The study was conducted on tobacco plants, but species like periwinkle, petunia, and rose could be modified in the same way, according to the researchers. Looking ahead, the scientists would like to make the plants even brighter and possibly even able to respond to people and surroundings.

這項研究是在煙草植物上進行的，但研究人員表示，長春花、矮牽?；ê兔倒宓任锓N也可以用同樣的方法進行改良。展望未來，科學家們希望能使這些植物變得更加明亮，甚至能夠?qū)θ撕铜h(huán)境做出反應。