Nutritious crops producing multiple carotenoids – a metabolic balancing act
Issue date
2011Author
Twyman, Richard M.
Suggested citation
Farré Martinez, Gemma;
Bai, Chao;
Twyman, Richard M.;
Capell Capell, Teresa;
Christou, Paul;
Zhu, Changfu;
.
(2011)
.
Nutritious crops producing multiple carotenoids – a metabolic balancing act.
Trends in Plant Science, 2011, vol. 16, núm. 10, p. 532-540.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2011.08.001.
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Show full item recordAbstract
Plants and microbes produce multiple carotenoid pigments
with important nutritional roles in animals. By
unraveling the basis of carotenoid biosynthesis it has
become possible to modulate the key metabolic steps in
plants and thus increase the nutritional value of staple
crops, such as rice (Oryza sativa), maize (Zea mays) and
potato (Solanum tuberosum). Multigene engineering
has been used to modify three different metabolic pathways
simultaneously, producing maize seeds with
higher levels of carotenoids, folate and ascorbate. This
strategy may allow the development of nutritionally
enhanced staples providing adequate amounts of several
unrelated nutrients. By focusing on different steps in
the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway, it is also possible
to generate plants with enhanced levels of several
nutritionally-beneficial carotenoid molecules simultaneously.