Folate synthesis and metabolism in plants and prospects for biofortification

Folates are essential cofactors for one-carbon transfer reactions in most living organisms and are required for the biosynthesis of nucleic acids, amino acids, and pantothenate. Unlike plants and microorganisms, humans cannot synthesize folates de novo and must acquire them from the diet, primarily...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Crop science 2005-03, Vol.45 (2), p.449-453
Main Authors: Basset, G.J.C, Quinlivan, E.P, Gregory, J.F. III, Hanson, A.D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino acids
Analysis
biofortification
Biosynthesis
Chemical synthesis
Crop science
Dihydrofolate reductase
Enzymes
Folic acid
food crops
foods
Genetic engineering
literature reviews
metabolism
Microorganisms
Nucleic acids
plant physiology
Transgenic plants
Vascular diseases
Vitamin B
vitamin content
Vitamin deficiency
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Folates are essential cofactors for one-carbon transfer reactions in most living organisms and are required for the biosynthesis of nucleic acids, amino acids, and pantothenate. Unlike plants and microorganisms, humans cannot synthesize folates de novo and must acquire them from the diet, primarily from plant foods. However, lack of folates is the most common vitamin deficiency in the world and has serious health consequences, including increased risk of neural tube defects in infants, cancers, and vascular diseases. Consequently, there is much interest in engineering plants with enhanced folate content (biofortification). In this review, we outline progress in defining the plant folate synthesis pathway and its unique compartmentation and point out sectors of folate metabolism that have yet to be elucidated, including transport and catabolism. We also consider possible strategies to enhance plant folate synthesis and accumulation by metabolic engineering.
ISSN:0011-183X
1435-0653
DOI:10.2135/cropsci2005.0449