Calcium-Biofortified Lettuce
October 17, 2008| |
A group of researchers from the Kansas State University, Texas A&M University and Baylor College of Medicine in the U.S. successfully developed transgenic lettuce lines accumulating significantly higher levels of calcium. The GM lettuce plants harbor a modified calcium/proton antiporter (known as the short cation exchanger 1 or sCAX1) placed under the control of a cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter. sCAX1 increases calcium transport into the vacuole, the “storage tank” of plant cells.
The transgenic lettuce lines were found to contain 25 to 32 percent more calcium than their non-transgenic counterparts. They also exhibited fertility and robust growth in greenhouse conditions. Using a panel of highly trained descriptive panelists, the biofortified lettuce plants were evaluated and no significant differences were detected in flavor, bitterness or crispness when compared with controls.
Download the paper published by the Plant Biotechnology Journal at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7652.2008.00379.x
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