Nutritious crops producing multiple carotenoids – a metabolic balancing act

Farré Martinez, Gemma; Bai, Chao; Twyman, Richard M.; Capell Capell, Teresa; Christou, Paul; Zhu, Changfu

doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2011.08.001

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Issue date

2011

Author

Farré Martinez, Gemma

Bai, Chao

Twyman, Richard M.

Capell Capell, Teresa

Christou, Paul

Zhu, Changfu

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.

Abstract

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.

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/56821

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2011.08.001

Is part of

Trends in Plant Science, 2011, vol. 16, núm. 10, p. 532-540