Increased production level of hyaluronan in transgenic tobacco cultured cells

Abstract

Hyaluronan is a linear polysaccharide composed of alternating β1,4-glucuronic acid and β1,3-N-acetylglucosamine moieties. Recently, hyaluronan has extended the applications in various fields including cosmetics, medicine, health-care food, etc. Commercially available hyaluronan is isolated from rooster comb or produced with microbial fermentation. We have introduced the chlorella virus hyaluronan synthase (cvHAS) gene into tobacco BY-2 cells or tobacco plants via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and confirmed the production of hyaluronan in the transgenic plant cells. Production level of hyaluronan in the transgenic BY-2 cells was increased by coexpressing UDP-D-glucose dehydroganase(Ugd) and L-glutamine D-fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase (GFAT) with cvHAS.