Moire Laurence, Rezzonico Enea, Poirier Yves
Institut d'Ecologie, Laboratoire de Biotechnologie Végétale, Bâtiment de Biologie, Université de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
J Plant Physiol. 2003 Jul;160(7):831-9. doi: 10.1078/0176-1617-01030.
Metabolic engineering of plants allows the possibility of using crops for the synthesis of novel polymers having useful material properties. Strong and flexible protein-based polymers, which are based on the structure of silk and elastin have been synthesized in transgenic plants. A wide range of polyhydroxyalkanoates having properties ranging from stiff plastics to soft elastomers and glues have been synthesized in various compartments of plants, such as the cytoplasm, plastid and peroxisome. These plant biomaterials could replace, in part, the synthetic plastics, fibers and elastomers produced from petroleum, thus offering the advantage of renewability, sustainability and biodegradability.
植物代谢工程使得利用作物合成具有有用材料特性的新型聚合物成为可能。基于丝和弹性蛋白结构的强韧且柔韧的蛋白质基聚合物已在转基因植物中合成。多种具有从硬质塑料到软质弹性体及胶水等不同特性的聚羟基脂肪酸酯已在植物的各个区室（如细胞质、质体和过氧化物酶体）中合成。这些植物生物材料可以部分替代由石油生产的合成塑料、纤维和弹性体，从而具有可再生、可持续和可生物降解的优势。
