科学家利用蘑菇的发光基因培育出了在黑暗中最亮的植物

科学家利用蘑菇的发光基因培育出了在黑暗中最亮的植物

Bioluminescence brings light to the ocean depths, turns beaches into nocturnal wonderlands, and allows fireflies to brighten our nights, but plants never mastered the art of bringing light into the world on their own. The transfer of bioluminescent firefly genes into plants was an early demonstration of transgenic technologies, but a new announcement promises to far exceed those short-lived glows.

生物发光给海洋深处带来了光明，把海滩变成了夜间的仙境，让萤火虫照亮了我们的夜晚，但植物从来没有掌握把光带到这个世界的艺术。将发光的萤火虫基因转移到植物中是转基因技术的早期示范，但一项新的声明承诺将远远超过那些短暂的发光。

Bacterial bioluminescent genes products proved toxic when introduced to plants, and firefly light didn't last long. Now Nature Biotechnology reports tobacco plants modified to incorporate genes from bioluminescent mushrooms have similar health measures and seed production to their wild counterparts, other than growing 12 percent taller, and the glow lasts the plants' whole lives.

细菌生物发光基因产物被证明是有毒的，而萤火虫的光持续时间不长。现在，《自然生物技术》杂志报道称，将生物发光蘑菇的基因改造成烟草植物后，除了能长高12%外，它们的健康措施和种子产量与野生同类植物相似，而且这种发光能持续植物的整个生命周期。

Stephen Luntz

“Thirty years ago, I helped to create the first luminescent plant using a gene from fireflies,” said Dr Keith Wood in a statement. “These new plants can produce a much brighter and more steady glow, which is fully embodied within their genetic code." The appropriately named Wood is CEO of Light Bio, a company planning to sell ornamental house plants that will allow you to find your way in the dark.

基斯·伍德博士在一份声明中说:“30年前，我帮助创造了第一种利用萤火虫基因发光的植物。”“这些新植物可以产生更明亮、更稳定的光，这完全体现在它们的遗传密码中。”伍德是Light Bio公司的首席执行官，该公司计划出售能让你在黑暗中找到路的观赏性室内植物。

Sales to members of the public who want to make their houses look like the forests in Avatar may represent the commercial driver for the idea, but there are scientific benefits as well. The fluorescent jellyfish protein's discovery won a Nobel Prize for allowing scientists to identify which genes are activated at a particular time. A brighter and lasting glow could take botanists even further, allowing them to observe plant activity in previously impossible ways, including an instant healthcheck. The authors found plants glow most brightly when growing rapidly, and light output increases in the presence of ethylene – such as is produced by ripe banana skins – which encourages fruit to ripen.

那些想让自己的房子看起来像《阿凡达》里的森林一样的公众销售可能成为了这个想法的商业驱动，但也有科学上的好处。荧光水母蛋白的发现获得了诺贝尔奖，因为它使科学家能够识别在特定时间激活的基因。一种更明亮和持久的光可以让植物学家们走得更远，让他们能够用以前不可能的方式观察植物活动，包括即时的健康检查。研究人员发现，植物在快速生长的时候会发出最明亮的光，当乙烯(比如成熟的香蕉皮产生的乙烯)存在时，植物的光输出会增加，从而促进果实成熟。

The glow at different stages of a modified tobacco plant's life shows how much brighter they get when in flower. Mitiouchkina et al/Nature Biotechnology

The team responsible do not expect cities to replace streetlights with bioluminescent trees, as other teams have hoped. Not only is the light unlikely to ever be bright enough for that, but what is produced would spread in all directions, particularly up, greatly increasing light pollution compared to lights focussed downwards, and hindering our capacity to see the stars. Nightclubs, on the other hand, may love the indoor decor.

负责这项研究的团队并不期望城市会像其他团队希望的那样，用生物荧光树来取代路灯。不仅因为光不太可能足够亮，而且所产生的光会向四面八方扩散，特别是向上传播，与向下聚焦的光相比，会大大增加光污染，并妨碍我们观察星星的能力。另一方面，夜总会可能喜欢室内装饰。

If all that was required to make plants glow like the brightest mushrooms was to move a single gene, the achievement would have been unlocked decades ago. Instead, the researchers had to understand the complex genetics that allows some fungi to convert caffeic acid into a precursor molecule, which releases light when it is oxidized, before being converted back to caffeic acid. The cycle requires the involvement of four different enzymes, the genes for each of which need to be transferred.

如果让植物像最亮的蘑菇一样发光所需要的只是移动一个基因，那么这项成就早在几十年前就已经实现了。相反，研究人员必须了解复杂的遗传机制，使一些真菌能够将咖啡因酸转化为前体分子，这种前体分子在被氧化时释放光，然后再转化为咖啡因酸。这个循环需要四种不同的酶参与，每种酶的基因都需要被转移。

Plants use caffeic acid to make lignin, which gives cell walls their strength, so once the enzymes are there they have an abundance of material to work on.

植物用咖啡酸来制造木质素，而木质素能增强细胞壁的强度，所以一旦有了酶，就有大量的物质可以利用。

Tobacco plants were chosen because their genetics are well understood (not through any desire to make glow-in-the-dark cigarettes). Having demonstrated success in that area the authors advanced to more marketable plants, with roses and petunia flowers producing particularly bright glows.

选择烟草植物是因为它们的基因很好理解(不是因为想要制造能在黑暗中发光的香烟)。在这一领域取得了成功之后，作者们又转向了更有市场的植物，玫瑰和矮牵牛花尤其能发出明亮的光芒。

That may not be the end of the team's ambitions, however. The paper notes animals do not have caffeic acid, but additional enzymes could make it out of common molecules. Glowing pets, anyone?

然而，这可能并不是该团队雄心的终点。这篇论文指出，动物体内不含咖啡酸，但是额外的酶可以使普通分子变成咖啡酸。发光的宠物,有人知道吗?