Manipulating flux through plant metabolic pathways

The past two years have seen a marked increase in patent applications for novel methods of altering the level and spectrum of commercially important products in plants. Results from these studies have proven surprising, showing that in many cases those enzymes traditionally thought of as flux-controlling have no impact on product formation when they are directly altered by genetic manipulation. In many cases, successful induction of increased flux throughout an entire pathway has been achieved by targeting one of the terminal enzymes in the pathway.