Bio 417

LECTURE 14

Biotechnology for Nutrition security continued……

1
Much of the world’s human population is threatened by “hidden hunger” due to
inadequate intake of micronutrients, vitamins and essential amino acids
These populations typically are largely in developing countries
they depend on cereal grains as primary energy sources
But, cereals typically have inadequate amounts of these essential
nutrients
Of these essential nutrients, vitamin A is apparently responsible for 70%
of global child deaths
In Southern Africa, we eat a lot maize that is not rich in these essential nutrients!
How should we respond to this pressing need?
industrial fortification and supplementation are the major response strategies
But, these lack long-term viability
hence, ‘biofortification’ via breeding micronutrients into staple crops has
become an attractive strategy
Among the cereals, yellow-kernel maize has natural variation for pro-vitamin A and
this can be exploited to improve pro-Vitamin A content of cultivated maize varieties
An alternative is to improve the yield of these in vegetables that are easily available such as
tomato
However, tomato production is seasonal!

These pigmentation differences are due to carotenoids

carotenoids possess pro-Vitamin A activity
Please suggest a molecular-based hypothesis to explain the observed
differences in the pigmentation of the yellow maize
Differences in expression levels/function of genes involved in the
carotenoid biosynthesis

Thus, our response to the pressing need for Vitamin A ought to include;

a) understanding the biosynthetic pathway for synthesis of carotenoids

b) identifying “bottlenecks” in the accumulation of these in edible plant parts
c) devising strategies to overcome the bottlenecks
In plants, carotenoids are synthesised through the methylerythritol 4-phosphate pathway (MEP)

Glyceraldehye 3-phosphate + Pyruvate

Mg2+
deoxy D-xylulose-5 phosphate synthase Mn2+, TPP

deoxy D-xylulose-5 phosphate (DXP)

deoxy D-xylulose-5 phosphate reductase NADPH

Mn2+

Methylerythritol 4-phosphate
(MEP)
NB:
both DXS and DXR are rate limiting/bottleneck reactions in the
flux to carotenoids and a range of other compounds
MEP is a precursor for the isomers; isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and
dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) and these are precursors GGPP
The naturally existing mutant alleles in lycopene-e-cyclase (lycE) and b-carotene hydroxylase
(crtRB1) enhance accumulation of pro-vitamin A compounds in maize endosperm
whereas, the recessive mutant allele of opaque 2 gene (o2) causes a two-fold increase in
lysine and tryptophan levels in maize endosperm
Strategy!
PCR-based co-dominant markers of these alleles have been developed and used in Marker-Assisted
Backcross Breeding (MAAP)
to develop maize lines with improved pro-vitamin A and essential amino acid content
Such markers have been successfully used to identify donors and then introgress such desirable
alleles into cultivars/inbred lines with desirable traits
The Process entails;
i) using the markers to screen existing germplasm for presence of desirable alleles
ii) confirmation of the presence of the desired metabolic products in the screened germplasm

Should the MAAP approach be restricted to existing germplasm only?

Please participate!
Mutant lines derived through deliberate mutation induction can also be screened for desirable
alleles using PCR-based markers
I can consider a Bio 453/4 project on the “development of SCAR or CAPS markers to screen cowpea
mutant lines for desirable traits”
Please read;
Zhang et al.( 2012). Theor. Appl. Genet. 125: 235-
Garg et al. (2018) Frontiers in Nutrition https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2018.00012