Iron Biofortification of Rice through Overexpression of Osfer2

Scientists from the University of Calcutta developed high iron rice grain through overexpression of endogenous ferritin gene Osfer2. Molecular biologist Paul Soumitra and colleagues cloned the gene from rice and overexpressed it under the control of endosperm specific GlutelinA2 (OsGluA2) promoter. After genetic engineering of Pusa-sugandi II, an aromatic indica rice cultivar, the biotech seeds showed ~8-fold ferritin overexpression leading to significant increase in iron and zinc content. Increase in iron content was specific in the endosperm of biotech rice, which indicates the tissue-specific activity of the promoter. No other differences were observed in the agronomic characteristics of biotech and non-biotech plants. These findings imply that overexpression of rice endogenous ferritin gene is an effective technique in iron biofortification of rice.

Read the abstract at http://www.landesbioscience.com/journals/gmcrops/article/22104/.