Plant Metabolic Engineering

Learning Outcomes

This course focuses on advanced training in the modification and optimization of plant metabolic pathways for improved productivity and value-added traits. Emphasis is placed on pathway biosynthesis elucidation, flux control, compartmentalization, and network interactions at the frameworks of the traditionally considered primary and secondary metabolism in plants. Metabolic engineering following mainstream and advanced methodologies to redirect metabolic flux toward desired compounds are analysed, including multigene stacking, regulatory circuit design, and systems-level modeling of metabolic networks. Case studies of successful engineering plants for enhanced nutritional quality and stress tolerance as well as the production of pharmaceuticals and industrial biomolecules are presented.

Upon completion the students will be able to:

• Explain the principles of plant metabolic engineering and synthetic biology
• Describe the structure, regulation, and integration of primary and secondary metabolic pathways in plants
• Understand biosynthetic pathway elucidation using genomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics
• Explain concepts of metabolic flux, control analysis, and network modeling
• Describe SynBio tools, including CRISPR, modular cloning systems, and gene circuits
• Understand multigene stacking, pathway refactoring, and regulatory circuit design
• Recognize strategies for metabolic flux redirection and optimization
• Analyze and interpret multi-omics datasets for pathway discovery
• Design synthetic constructs and multigene pathways for plant systems
• Propose strategies to redirect metabolic flux toward target compounds
• Design and evaluate synthetic regulatory circuits (inducible systems, feedback loops)
• Critically evaluate scientific literature and case studies in plant SynBio
• Propose experimental workflows within the Design–Build–Test–Learn (DBTL) cycle
• Design integrated metabolic engineering strategies for improving plant traits or producing high-value compounds
• Assess feasibility and scalability of engineered plant systems
• Develop innovative research proposals in plant metabolic engineering and SynBio
• Work effectively in interdisciplinary environments (biology, bioinformatics, engineering)
• Communicate complex ideas clearly to both specialist and non-specialist audiences
• Apply ethical, regulatory, and biosafety considerations in plant biotechnology and responsible research and innovation principles in the development of plant-based biotechnologies.

Module Syllabus

• Plant Metabolism in the synthetic biology era- introduction and revised aspects of primary and specialized metabolism in plants
• Biosynthetic pathways elucidation
• Subcellular compartmentalization, metabolic channeling; metabolic flux analysis and predictive modelling 
• Plant metabolic networks and integration of multi-omics data
• Genetic engineering strategies for pathway optimization and multigene stacking (assembling complex pathways)
• Synthetic regulatory circuit design and metabolic fux redirection
• Integration with machine learning approaches in plant metabolic engineering
• Synthetic organelle engineering, plant chassis and cell-free systems
• Engineering plants for enhanced traits
• Plants as biofactories

Suggested Bibliography

• Relevant literature per lecture, including scientific publications and reviews from international journals, which is available in the course e-class.
• Principles and techniques of Molecular Biology, 7th edition, Edited by Keith Wilson and John Walker, electronic source
• Laboratory techniques in plant biotechnology, electronic source