Synthesis of plant proteins in heterologous systems: Xenopus laevis oocytes

This chapter discusses the synthesis of plant proteins in heterologous systems. The recent advent in recombinant DNA and gene transfer technologies—which enables the construction of mutant genes and their subsequent expression in plant and animal cells—has provided an impetus for a wide array of studies on the synthesis, assembly, and transport of plant proteins. An important outcome of these studies is that many processes, though not all, are independent of the eukaryotic cell type in which the protein of interest is synthesized. It appears, for instance, that plant secretory proteins can fold, assemble, and acquire transport competence when expressed in animal cells. The major advantages of such heterologous systems are the ease of analysis and fast results, compared to the use of transgenic plants. Moreover, in specific cases, heterologous systems can be used for specific experiments that are either difficult or impossible to perform in plant cells. © 1995, Academic Press, Inc.