Folate biofortification in food crops

Strobbe, Simon; Straeten, Dominique Van Der

doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2016.12.003

Cited by 89 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…An alternative approach to fight folate deficiency is the enhancement of folate levels in staple crops. Both molecular breeding technology and metabolic engineering can be used to create crops with enhanced micronutrient content, each with their advantages and shortcomings (Blancquaert et al, 2017; Strobbe and Van Der Straeten, 2017). However, the first one is dependent on the natural variation in germplasm of the crop of interest.…”

Section: Biofortificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Folates in Plants: Research Advances and Progress in Crop Biofortification

et al. 2017

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Folates, also known as B9 vitamins, serve as donors and acceptors in one-carbon (C1) transfer reactions. The latter are involved in synthesis of many important biomolecules, such as amino acids, nucleic acids and vitamin B5. Folates also play a central role in the methyl cycle that provides one-carbon groups for methylation reactions. The important functions fulfilled by folates make them essential in all living organisms. Plants, being able to synthesize folates de novo, serve as an excellent dietary source of folates for animals that lack the respective biosynthetic pathway. Unfortunately, the most important staple crops such as rice, potato and maize are rather poor sources of folates. Insufficient folate consumption is known to cause severe developmental disorders in humans. Two approaches are employed to fight folate deficiency: pharmacological supplementation in the form of folate pills and biofortification of staple crops. As the former approach is considered rather costly for the major part of the world population, biofortification of staple crops is viewed as a decent alternative in the struggle against folate deficiency. Therefore, strategies, challenges and recent progress of folate enhancement in plants will be addressed in this review. Apart from the ever-growing need for the enhancement of nutritional quality of crops, the world population faces climate change catastrophes or environmental stresses, such as elevated temperatures, drought, salinity that severely affect growth and productivity of crops. Due to immense diversity of their biochemical functions, folates take part in virtually every aspect of plant physiology. Any disturbance to the plant folate metabolism leads to severe growth inhibition and, as a consequence, to a lower productivity. Whereas today's knowledge of folate biochemistry can be considered very profound, evidence on the physiological roles of folates in plants only starts to emerge. In the current review we will discuss the implication of folates in various aspects of plant physiology and development.

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Section: Biofortificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Folates in Plants: Research Advances and Progress in Crop Biofortification

et al. 2017

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“…Folates are coenzymes of many reactions in the synthesis of purine and pyrimidine, amino acid, pantothenic acid, and methionine. In microorganisms and plants, the basic pathways for folate synthesis and one-carbon metabolism have been well studied (Hanson and Gregory 2011;Strobbe and Van Der Straeten 2017). However, humans cannot biosynthesize folates de novo, and need a daily intake of more than 400 micrograms of folates per day to satisfy the needs of in 2020 in China, highlighting the urgency of fighting folate deficiency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic mapping of folate QTLs using a segregated population in maize

Guo

Lian

Wang

et al. 2019

JIPB

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As essential B vitamin for humans, folates accumulation in edible parts of crops, such as maize kernels, is of great importance for human health. But its breeding is always limited by the prohibitive cost of folate profiling. The molecular breeding is a more executable and efficient way for folate fortification, but is limited by the molecular knowledge of folate regulation. Here we report the genetic mapping of folate quantitative trait loci (QTLs) using a segregated population crossed by two maize lines, one high in folate (GEMS31) and the other low in folate (DAN3130). Two folate QTLs on chromosome 5 were obtained by the combination of F2 whole‐exome sequencing and F3 kernel‐folate profiling. These two QTLs had been confirmed by bulk segregant analysis using F6 pooled DNA and F7 kernel‐folate profiling, and were overlapped with QTLs identified by another segregated population. These two QTLs contributed 41.6% of phenotypic variation of 5‐formyltetrahydrofolate, the most abundant storage form among folate derivatives in dry maize grains, in the GEMS31×DAN3130 population. Their fine mapping and functional analysis will reveal details of folate metabolism, and provide a basis for marker‐assisted breeding aimed at the enrichment of folates in maize kernels.

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“…Among them is pterin, which is a folate precursor. Folate is an essential part of human diet, and thus, studying uptake of pterin by plants to elevate folate levels might be an interesting biofortification stratey (Strobbe & Van Der Straeten, 2017). Xanthine is part of the purine degradation pathway in plants, and can act as a sole nitrogen source for Arabidopsis thaliana growth (Brychkova et al , 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-lab EcoFAB study shows highly reproducible physiology and depletion of soil metabolites by a model grass

Sasse

Kant

Cole

et al. 2018

Preprint

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There is a dynamic reciprocity between plants and their environment: On one hand, the physiochemical properties of soil influence plant morphology and metabolism, while on the other, root morphology and exudates shape the environment surrounding roots. Here, we investigate both of these aspects as well as the reproducibility of these responses across laboratories. The model grass Brachypodium distachyon was grown in phosphate-sufficient and phosphate-deficient mineral media, as well as in sterile soil extract, within fabricated ecosystem (EcoFAB) devices across four laboratories. Tissue weight and phosphate content, total root length, root tissue and exudate metabolic profiles were found to be consistent across laboratories and distinct between experimental treatments. Plants grown in soil extract were morphologically and metabolically distinct in all laboratories, with root hairs four times longer compared to other growth conditions. Further, plants depleted half of the investigated metabolites from the soil extract. To interact with their environment, plants not only adapt morphology and release complex metabolite mixtures; they also selectively deplete a range of soil-derived metabolites. The EcoFABs utilized here generated high inter-laboratory reproducibility, demonstrating that their value in standardized investigations of plant traits.

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Folate biofortification in food crops

Cited by 89 publications

References 61 publications

Folates in Plants: Research Advances and Progress in Crop Biofortification

Folates in Plants: Research Advances and Progress in Crop Biofortification

Genetic mapping of folate QTLs using a segregated population in maize

Multi-lab EcoFAB study shows highly reproducible physiology and depletion of soil metabolites by a model grass

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