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Recombinant Proteins from Plants pp 55–67Cite as

Transient Protein Expression by Agroinfiltration in Lettuce

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Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1385))

Abstract

Current systems of recombinant protein production include bacterial, insect, and mammalian cell culture. However, these platforms are expensive to build and operate at commercial scales and/or have limited abilities to produce complex proteins. In recent years, plant-based expression systems have become top candidates for the production of recombinant proteins as they are highly scalable, robust, safe, and can produce complex proteins due to having a eukaryotic endomembrane system. Newly developed “deconstructed” viral vectors delivered via Agrobacterium tumefaciens (agroinfiltration) have enabled robust plant-based production of proteins with a wide range of applications. The leafy Lactuca sativa (lettuce) plant with its strong foundation in agriculture is an excellent host for pharmaceutical protein production. Here, we describe a method for agroinfiltration of lettuce that can rapidly produce high levels of recombinant proteins in a matter of days and has the potential to be scaled up to an agricultural level.

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Acknowledgement

The authors thank Dr. D. Green at Arizona State University for his continuous support for undergraduate research. This research was funded in part by the grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation OPP1043526 to Q. Chen. This research was also supported in part by funds from the School of Life Sciences Undergraduate Research (SOLUR) program at Arizona State University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85225, USA

    Qiang Chen, Matthew Dent, Jonathan Hurtado, Jake Stahnke, Alyssa McNulty, Kahlin Leuzinger & Huafang Lai

  2. School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85225, USA

    Qiang Chen, Matthew Dent, Jonathan Hurtado, Jake Stahnke & Alyssa McNulty

Authors
  1. Qiang Chen
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  2. Matthew Dent
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  3. Jonathan Hurtado
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  4. Jake Stahnke
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  5. Alyssa McNulty
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  6. Kahlin Leuzinger
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  7. Huafang Lai
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Qiang Chen or Huafang Lai .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Southern Crop Protection and Food Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, Ontario, Canada

    Jacqueline MacDonald

  2. Department of Biology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada

    Igor Kolotilin

  3. London, Ontario, Canada

    Rima Menassa

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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Chen, Q. et al. (2016). Transient Protein Expression by Agroinfiltration in Lettuce. In: MacDonald, J., Kolotilin, I., Menassa, R. (eds) Recombinant Proteins from Plants. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1385. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3289-4_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3289-4_4

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-3288-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-3289-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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