From Pathway Discovery to Plant Synthetic Biology

The Plant Science Department invites you to a seminar by Dr. Radin Sadre, Department of Horticulture, Michigan State University

Plants synthesize a multitude of compounds that contribute to their fitness and survival. Among the specialized metabolites, alkaloids and terpenoids show the highest structural and functional diversity and have a wide range of applications e.g. as pharmaceuticals, biofuels, and fragrances. They are often synthesized by unknown and complex, multi-step pathways. Dr Sadre will present three success stories from her work that exemplify how “omics”-based approaches advanced our understanding of the biosynthesis and metabolic diversity of alkaloids in non-model plants and how “nature’s toolbox” can be used for synthetic biology to produce high-value biomaterials in plants.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Radin Sadre obtained her Ph.D. from the RWTH Aachen University in Germany. Following independent research activities in collaboration with the agrochemical company Syngenta, Dr. Sadre joined Michigan State University and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center. Her research focuses on discovery of plant specialized metabolic pathways, including those of medicinal alkaloids and terpenoids, and plant synthetic biology. She developed novel approaches to engineer production of high-value terpenoids in plant leaf lipid droplets, recently published in the journal Nature Communications.