Peppermint (Mentha × piperita L.) was transformed with various gene constructs to evaluate the utility of metabolic engineering for improving essential oil yield and composition. Oil yield increases were achieved by overexpressing genes involved in the supply of precursors through the 2C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway. Two-gene combinations to enhance both oil yield and composition in a single transgenic line were assessed as well. The most promising results were obtained by transforming plants expressing an antisense version of (+)-menthofuran synthase, which is critical for adjusting the levels of specific undesirable oil constituents, with a construct for the overexpression of the MEP pathway gene 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase (up to 61% oil yield increase over wild-type controls with low levels of the undesirable side-product (+)-menthofuran and its intermediate (+)-pulegone). Elite transgenic lines were advanced to multiyear field trials, which demonstrated consistent oil yield increases of up to 78% over wild-type controls and desirable effects on oil composition under commercial growth conditions. The transgenic expression of a gene encoding (+)-limonene synthase was used to accumulate elevated levels of (+)-limonene, which allows oil derived from transgenic plants to be recognized during the processing of commercial formulations containing peppermint oil. Our study illustrates the utility of metabolic engineering for the sustainable agricultural production of high quality essential oils at a competitive cost.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 9. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 06 January 2015.
All research outputs
#5,177,170
of 34,526,284 outputs
Outputs from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
#48,749
of 119,110 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#26,533
of 181,703 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
#317
of 784 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,526,284 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 83rd percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 119,110 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 40.1. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 52% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 181,703 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 82% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 784 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 57% of its contemporaries.
