Phytoestrogens:health-protecting plant secondary metabolites. Isolation of flavonoid prenyltransferase genes from plants.
01 / 2003 - 12 / 2007
METIS Wageningen Universiteit en Researchcentrum
Scope & objectives Food is an important factor in the prevention of chronic diseases such as coronary heart diseases and cancer. Several epidemiological studies have shown that a high intake of soy products, cereals and fibres is inversely correlated with the occurrence of these chronic diseases. There are strong indications that the health-protecting properties of these products may be caused by the presence of phytoestrogens: plant metabolites that influence estrogen-dependent signal transduction in men and animals. This project aims to isolate and characterise key genes involved in the biosynthesis of a new class of plant defense-related and human health-protecting compounds. Eventual goal is to enrich tomatoes for these compounds.