S104: Developing mint as an experimental model system for engineering terpenoid essential oil biosynthesis

Mints have been used and valued as aromatic herbs and sources of essential oils for thousands of years.  The biosynthesis of terpenoid essential oils in mint is localized to modified epidermal hairs called glandular trichomes.  Transcriptome sequencing efforts with isolated cells from these specialized, non-photosynthetic structures provided candidate cDNAs with potential roles in terpenoid essential oil biosynthesis.  All of the structural genes with direct involvement in mint essential oil biosynthesis were cloned and characterized within five years, thus demonstrating the utility of working with specialized plant cell types for gene discovery.  Mathematical modeling of the mint terpenoid biosynthetic pathway is providing fascinating novel insights into the regulatory control of this process and has enabled metabolic engineering efforts aimed at manipulating essential oil yield and composition.  Elite mint lines are now in commercial-scale field trials.  The prospect of developing mint into an experimental model system for terpenoid engineering will be discussed.