A Systems Biology Approach to Understand Terpene Biosynthesis in Eucalyptus for Advance Biofuel Engineering

Terpenes are naturally occurring, chemo-diverse set of compounds commonly synthesized within foliage in plants. These compounds are hydrocarbons categorized by the number of recurring isoprene units (C5H8), e.g., mono- (C10), sesqui- (C15), di- (C20) and triterpenes (C30). The large range of reported chemical structures is paralleled with a number of biological roles in plants and prospective industrial utility. Specific terpenes have the potential to meet the physicochemical requirements of current fuel technology including, low temperature viscosity, high energy density and volumetric net heat of combustion. β-pinene, α-pinene, linalool, farnesene, camphene, limonene, 1,4-cineole, 1,8-cineole, sabinene, bisabolene, and myrcene have been identified as promising advanced biofuel candidates. These terpenes are synthetized with the oil glands of foliage tissue of Eucalyptus and vary in their presence and concentration among different species. The aim of this study is to use system biology, integrating (and contrasting) metabolome, transcriptome and proteome data from an ontological developmental foliar growth series (and oil glands) to understand the genetic regulation of terpene biosynthesis in Eucalyptus. We will be presenting the preliminary data of species and genotype selection based on metabolite profiling, gland size and number of glands per leaf. In addition, we will show initial transcriptomic analysis of the oil glands along a leaf developmental series contrasting against the whole-leaf transcriptome from these stages. This study will have important implications for future biotechnology and synthetic biology by revealing promising candidate biosynthetic enzymes, transporter and regulatory proteins.