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Expression of Thaumatin Gene in Horticultural Crops
Dao-Yu Zhu*, Yong-Hua Qin1, Shang-Long Zhang1
Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Forestry and Horticulture, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China; 1Department of Horticulture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310029, China
Abstract: Thaumatin is a protein which is isolated from the katemfe fruit of west Africa (Thaumatococcus daniellii Benth). Two main forms， thaumatin I and thaumatin II， are known. It is a new sweetener with many advantages such as high sweetness， low calories， no toxicity and nice sweet taste， and especially is suitable for diabetics. The gene for thaumatin has been transferred to horticultural crops in attempts to improve taste. Several research aspects were reviewed in this paper， including thaumatin cDNA cloning and sequencing， expression and inheritance of thaumatin gene in plants， analysis of fruit taste， evaluation of the food safety of genetically modified fruit and transgenic plant tolerance for pathogenic fungus. Some problems in transformation were discussed， and suggestion was given to the future research work of this field.
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