Metabolic Engineering of Isoflavone Synthesis in Soybean and Non-legumes

Metabolic engineering for production of isoflavones in non-legume plants could distribute the health benefits of these phytoe-strogens in more widely-consumed grains. We investigate the ability of the heterologous isoflavone synthase enzyme to interact with the endogenous phenylpropanoid pathway. Overall, results provide possibility of production of isoflavonoids in several plant tissue systems including soybean and non-legumes. In tissue that undergoes naturally enhanced synthesis of anthocyanins, genistein production was enhanced. In a monocot cell system, introduced expression of a transcription factor regulating genes of the antho-cyanin pathway was effective in conferring the ability produce genistein in the presence of the isoflavone synthase gene. However, in this case the intermediate accumulated to high levels indicating an inefficiency in its conversion. Introduction of a third gene, chalcone reductase, provided the ability to synthesize an additional substrate of isoflavone synthase resulting in production of the isoflavone daidzein. These research efforts provide insight into requirements for metabolic engineering for isoflavone production in non-legume dicot and monocot tissues.