A genomics approach to understanding how Vanilla planifolia does cool chemistry

 

Xiaolan Rao1, Nick Krom2, Fang Chen1 and Richard A. Dixon1

1Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Texas

Denton, TX

2Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation

Ardmore, OK

Richard.Dixon@unt.edu

 

 

Vanilla planifolia is the most valued of the approximately 100 Vanilla species for its flavor qualities, and is therefore widely cultivated for the production of food additives, primarily based on natural vanillin, the world’s most popular flavor. Understanding how the vanilla pod can accumulate such high levels of flavor compounds has so far alluded researchers, and the biochemical pathway to vanillin, a relatively simple organic molecule, is also unclear in V. planifolia. We have recently discovered that V. planifolia makes another interesting and potentially valuable compound, a linear lignin polymer found only in the seed coat that is currently being tested as a source of carbon fibers. To provide a platform for gene discovery in V. planifolia towards elucidating the synthesis of these and other potentially useful chemicals, we have generated very large gene sequence datasets from vanilla pods at different times of development, and representing different tissue types, including the seeds, hairs  and placental tissues within the pod.  Interrogation of these datasets throws light on several aspects of Vanilla’s metabolism and development, and provides a basis for better understanding the genetic organization of this remarkable plant.

 

 

Dr. Richard A. Dixon is Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of North Texas, Denton, TX. He was previously Distinguished Professor and Samuel Roberts Noble Research Chair, Senior Vice President and Founding Director of the Plant Biology Division at the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Ardmore, Oklahoma, where he worked from 1988-2013. He holds Adjunct Professorships at Rice University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Oklahoma.  He received his Bachelor’s and Doctoral degrees in Biochemistry and Botany from Oxford University (UK), and postdoctoral training in Plant Biochemistry at Cambridge University (UK).  He was awarded the Doctor of Science degree for his research achievements by Oxford University in 2004. His research interests center on molecular biology and metabolic engineering of plant natural product pathways and cell walls in forage legumes and bioenergy crops. He has published over 420 papers on these and related topics in international journals, and has been named by the Institute for Scientific Information as one of the 10 most cited authors in the world in the plant and animal sciences. Professor Dixon is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal BioEnergy Research, a member of the Editorial Boards of four other international journals, a member of the Scientific Advisory Boards of AgResearch (New Zealand) and the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center of Academia Sinica (Taipei, Taiwan), and recipient of numerous awards including Oklahoma Scientist of the Year (2008) and, in 2012, the Groupe Polyphenols Scientific Prize and the Shang-Fa Yang Memorial Lectureship of Academia Sinica. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was elected to membership of the US National Academy of Sciences in 2007, in which capacity he serves on the National Research Council Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources.