Plants with genetically encoded autoluminescence
156 Citations•2020•
Tatiana Mitiouchkina, Alexander S. Mishin, Louisa González Somermeyer
Tobacco plants are engineered with a fungal bioluminescence system that converts caffeic acid into luciferin and report self-sustained luminescence that is visible to the naked eye, which could underpin development of a suite of imaging tools for plants.
Abstract
Autoluminescent plants engineered to express a bacterial bioluminescence gene cluster in plastids have not been widely adopted because of low light output. We engineered tobacco plants with a fungal bioluminescence system that converts caffeic acid (present in all plants) into luciferin and report self-sustained luminescence that is visible to the naked eye. Our findings could underpin development of a suite of imaging tools for plants.