Zinc biofortification of cereals: problems and solutions
2008
M. G. Palmgren, S. Clemens, L. E. Williams, U. Krämer, S. Borg, J. K. Schjørring | D. Sanders
The goal of biofortification is to develop plants that have an increased content of bioavailable nutrients in their edible parts. Cereals serve as the main staple food for a large proportion of the world population but have the shortcoming, from a nutrition perspective, of being low in zinc and other essential nutrients. Major bottlenecks in plant biofortification appear to be the root–shoot barrier and – in cereals – the process of grain filling. New findings demonstrate that the root–shoot distribution of zinc is controlled mainly by heavy metal transporting P1B-ATPases and the metal tolerance protein (MTP) family. A greater understanding of zinc transport is important to improve crop quality and also to help alleviate accumulation of any toxic metals.
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