Elevating Vitamin B₆ Content of Plants through Metabolic Engineering

Vitamin B₆ is a water-soluble vitamin that exists in three forms: pyridoxine, pyridoxal and pyridoxamine. The B-complex vitamin acts as a versatile cofactor for many enzymes catalyzing important biochemical reactions. In contrast to bacteria and plants that can synthesize their own vitamin B₆, animals need to take up the vitamin from their diet. Vitamin B₆ deficiency has been associated with impaired cognitive functions, Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular diseases and different types of cancer, especially in the elderly population. Hence, it is of great interest for scientists to increase vitamin B₆ levels in plants for improved nutrition value.

Researchers from the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in the US report in a paper published by the Plant Biotechnology Journal that it is feasible to engineer vitamin B₆ contents in Arabidopsis seeds through metabolic engineering. Over-expression of the genes PDX1 and PDX2 resulted to Arabidopsis plants that accumulate two-fold more total vitamin B₆ in seeds compared to their non-transgenic counterpart. Hao Chen and Liming Xiong wrote that their finding is particularly valuable for crop plants whose seeds are the major source of food and feed.

Read the article at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7652.2009.00433.x