Novel applications of the ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic pathway in plant genetic engineering.

One goal of plant genetic engineering is the manipulation of protein levels within crop plants. New insights into the ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic pathway provide potential novel ways of enhancing levels of desired proteins by synthesizing them as ubiquitin fusions, and reducing levels of undesired proteins by selective protein degradation. As a result, the ubiquitin pathway should become a useful tool for many aspects of plant biotechnology.