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Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences
School of Biological Sciences
Department of Botany
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
One of the two NRF/UK Royal Society research programmes in the Botany Department focused on the mechanism of protection in plants against stressful environments. The plant cysteine proteinase/cysteine proteinase inhibitor system and its involvement in biotic stress protection and stress-induced senescence were studied by optimising cysteine proteinase inhibitor activity using an evolutionary approach and site-directed mutagenesis.
A number of mutated inhibitor coding sequences was produced that are currently tested in transgenic maize plants to demonstrate improved insect resistance in maize. In additional work, two novel cysteine proteinase genes from tobacco were isolated and characterised.
Expression studies revealed that one is expressed only in senescing leaves whereas the second is the first KDEL tailed cysteine proteinase cloned from tobacco being expressed in green mature leaves and down-regulated during drought and heat stress.
The knowledge gained from this research will ultimately contribute to a detailed understanding of the function and importance of the cysteine proteinase/cysteine proteinase inhibitor system in plants for stress protection.
Good progress was made with the cooperative project with researchers from Wageningen to compile ecological information on the vegetation and associated wildlife in the Kruger National Park for incorporation in a computerised expert system named Synbiosis Kruger.
A number of novel bioactive compounds have been isolated and identified from medicinal plants in the Department’s Phytomedicine program. An NRF/UK Royal Society grant was awarded for this program and resulted in student and staff exchange programmes with Queen’s College in Belfast and King’s College in London.
One of the highlights of this collaboration was the finding that a natural naphthoquinone has good inhibition on the mycothiol reductase enzyme, which indicates a novel mode of action of this group of compounds.
Prof JJM Meyer
Botany
+27 (0) 12 420 2224
marion.meyer@up.ac.za
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