Tessa Moses

TL;DR: The industrial uses and potential of saponins are discussed with respect to structure and activity, highlighting the undoubted value of these molecules as therapeutics.

TL;DR: Focusing on the terpenes, the largest class of plant natural products, the basis of terpene diversity is investigated through analysis of multiple sequenced plant genomes and evidence is found for different mechanisms of pathway assembly in eudicots and monocots.

TL;DR: Findings define a connection between a component of the core ABA signaling pathway and the JA responses and contribute to the understanding of the role of JAs in balancing tradeoffs between growth and defense.

TL;DR: Several synthetic biology methods to enhance and diversify the production of plant terpenoids are highlighted, with a foresight towards triterpenoid engineering, the least engineered class of bioactive ter penoids.

TL;DR: This work identified a cytochrome P450 involved in the oxidation of saikosaponins, thereby expanding the enzyme compendium that can generate plant saponins with an extra activity and established a synthetic biology program to reconstitute saponin biosynthesis in the yeast and developed a cyclodextrin-based culturing strategy to sequester triterpenes from engineered yeast cells and enhance their productivity.