THE TRANSFER OF GENES FROM DIVERSE SOURCES TO THE BACTERIUM ESCHERICHIA COLI , THE YEAST SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE AND OTHER SUITABLE ORGANISMS
THE ORIENTATION IN THIS PROJECT WILL HAVE SPECIAL REFERENCE TO :
( A ) THE CHEMICAL CONSTRUCTION OF " SYNTHETIC GENES " ;
( B ) DEVELOPMENT OF MUTATIONAL TOOLS ( E . G . SITE SPECIFIC MUTAGENESIS ) ;
( C ) OVERCOMING THE EXPRESSION BARRIERS FOR PARTICULAR PROTEINS ;
( D ) MODIFICATION TO INHIBIT THE DEGRADATION OF ENZYMES IN A FOREIGN ENVIRONMENT BY SUCH TECHNIQUES AS REPRESSION OF PROTEOLYTIC ACTIVITY OF THE HOST CELL OR BY TAGGING THE DESIRED PROTEIN TO ANOTHER WHICH IS EXCRETED EXTRACELLULARLY ;
( E ) POST-TRANSLATIONAL MODIFICATION , E . G . GLYCOSYLATION ;
( F ) THE POSSIBILITY OF SUPPORTING THE COLLECTION AND STORAGE ( E . G . AS MRNA OR CLONED IN PLASMIDS ) FOR DISTRIBUTION TO RELEVANT LABORATORIES IN THE COMMUNITY OF RARE MATERIAL SUCH AS TUMOURS CAPABLE OF SYNTHESIZING ABNORMALLY HIGH QUANTITIES OF SPECIFIC HORMONES .
4 . DEVELOPMENT OF CLONING SYSTEMS
ALTHOUGH CLONING OF FOREIGN GENES IN THE BACTERIUM ESCHERICHIA COLI IS NOW ROUTINELY PERFORMED IN MANY LABORATORIES , LITTLE HAS BEEN ACHIEVED ON THE CLONING AND EXPRESSION IN OTHER ORGANISMS WHICH ARE LIKELY TO BE OF GREAT IMPORTANCE TO EUROPEAN INDUSTRY AND AGRICULTURE . THE FIRST STEP IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRACTICALLY APPLICABLE VECTORS IN A WIDE RANGE OF DIFFERENT VIRUSES , BACTERIA , FUNGI , ALGAE , PLANTS AND ANIMALS . THE STABILITY , REGULATION AND EXPRESSION OF TRANSFERRED GENES WILL BE STUDIED WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THIS PROJECT AND OF PROJECTS 3 AND 5 .
5 . GENE TRANSFER IN MICRO-ORGANISMS AND IN PLANTS IMPORTANT TO AGRICULTURE
( A ) THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF METHODS FOR INTRODUCING , WHEN CONSIDERED NECESSARY FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES , FOREIGN GENETIC INFORMATION IN MICRO-ORGANISMS AND IN PLANTS WHICH PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE . ALL METHODS LIKELY TO ALLOW THE TRANSFER OF GENES BETWEEN SPECIES WHICH NORMALLY DO NOT EXCHANGE GENETIC INFORMATION IN NATURE ARE TO BE CONSIDERED IN THIS SUBPROJECT . PARTICULAR ATTENTION IS TO BE GIVEN , HOWEVER , TO MODERN TECHNIQUES , INCLUDING SOMATIC CELL HYBRIDIZATION , THE TRANSFER OF INDIVIDUAL CHROMOSOMES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CLONING SYSTEMS AND THEIR EXPLOITATION .
( B ) ANALYSIS AND CONTROL OF THE STABILITY , REGULATION AND EXPRESSION OF TRANSFERRED GENES .
( C ) ANALYSIS AND CONTROL OF PLANT REGENERATION IN VITRO , I . E . THE PRODUCTION OF DIFFERENTIATED ORGANISMS FROM ISOLATED CELLS CULTURED IN VITRO , A STEP WHICH CONSTITUTES ONE OF THE FIRST CONDITIONS FOR THE SUCCESS OF ANY PROJECT BASED UPON RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNOLOGY OR SOMATIC HYBRIDIZATION FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF CULTIVATED PLANTS .
6 . IMPROVEMENT OF METHODS FOR DETECTING CONTAMINATION AND FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF POSSIBLE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH APPLICATIONS IN AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY OF BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING
( A ) IMPROVEMENT OF METHODS FOR DETECTING CONTAMINATION ( INCLUDING MUTATIONS AND PHAGE - OR PLASMID-MODIFIED VARIATIONS