Increasing Corn's Provitamin A Content

A team of American researchers has developed an economical approach on the selective breeding of maize with increased levels of vitamin A precursors. Maize is an essential part of diets of millions of people around the world, especially in the sub-Saharan Africa. Improving the vitamin A content of maize may help enhance the nutritional status of millions of people from the developing world. Dietary vitamin A deficiency is estimated to cause eye disease in 40 million children each year and places 140 to 250 million at risk for health disorders.

The scientists employed a technique called quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, to identify specific regions in the maize genome that influence the production of vitamin A precursors. They also used association and linkage mapping, which involve studying specific gene sequences and tracking their inheritance pattern, to determine which gene coincides with increased provitamin A levels. They discovered that variations in a specific locus (site in a chromosome) alter the cascade of chemical reactions that produce vitamin A precursors. Selection of favorable form of this locus, by marker assisted selection, may enable developing-country breeders to effectively produce maize grain with higher provitamin A levels.

Read more at http://www.news.uiuc.edu/news/08/0117maize.html The abstract of the paper published by the journal Science is available at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/319/5861/330