Biofortification of staple food crops: Engineering the metabolic pathways
Journal Title: International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Sciences - Year 2013, Vol 5, Issue 3
Abstract
Over three billions of the world people are affected by micronutrient malnutrition and nearly two-thirds of all child deaths are linked to malnutrition’s specifically micronutrients deficiencies. “Biofortification” is a word coined to refer to increasing the bioavailable micronutrient content of food crops via plant breeding. Developing micronutrient-enriched staple plant foods, either through traditional plant breeding or via molecular techniques, is a powerful intervention tool that targets the most vulnerable people. A significant portion of people in developing countries relies largely on one or more of the staple crops such as rice, maize, wheat, potato and cassava for their nutrition. These crops are the main subjects of biofortification projects. In staple grains such as rice, improvement of some complex traits such as vitamin A is not possible using conventional breeding strategies, as there are no natural rice varieties rich in this vitamin. Conventional breeding is also very difficult in vegetative propagated varieties (such as cassava and potatoes), due to the scarcity of genetically well-defined breeding lines. In addition, conventional breeding can change important traits of the crops desired by consumers, such as taste. Agricultural biotechnology methods, and in specific genetic engineering through Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) production represent therefore a very valuable and complementary strategy for developing more nutritious crops through engineered metabolic pathways such as Golden rice. Half the daily recommended allowance of vitamin A for a 1-3 year old child would be provided for in 72g of Golden Rice 2.
Authors and Affiliations
Zolfaghar Shahriari*| Fars General Department of Education, Shiraz, IRAN. email: shahriariz@shirazu.ac.ir, Bahram Heidari| Department of Crop Production and Plant Breeding, Shiraz University, Shiraz, IRAN., Morteza cheraghi| Fars General Department of Education, Shiraz, IRAN., Amir Ghaffar Shahriari| FerdowsiUniversity of Mashhad, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Breeding, Mashhad, IRAN.
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP5885
- DOI -
- Views 310
- Downloads 8
Security and religious interactions in urban spaces The Case Study of Qom
Security is immunity from invasion and occupation of forced and staying away from hazards and violations of rights and freedoms legitimate. Several factors are involved in the lack of security and a sense of security tha...
Measuring the level of intellectual capital and studying its effect on firm value by using the Q-Tobin model for companies accepted in Stock Exchange in Tehran
The rise of the “new economy”, one principally driven by information and knowledge, is attributed to the increased prominence of intellectual capital (IC) as a business and research topic. Intellectual capital is implica...
Biodegradation of Methyl tert-butyl ether by isolated bacteria from contaminated soils to gasoline
Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) was originally introduced as an additive to increase octane number into gasoline in the 1970s. Its use was primarily as an octane enhancer to replace lead in gasoline. Later on, it was also...
The study of the leadership style of secondary school teachers in Kuchesfehan Region
The leadership style of the teachers is one of the influential factors in students learning, motivation and output. Applyiny the type of the suitable leadership style,by other supposedly stabie factors,can be an effectiv...
The Research on OLAP for Educational Data Analysis
Nowadays learning platforms widely used in education and research institutions across the country. Despite the many advantages that this system provides for training centers, there are still many problems in the use of t...