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Engineering increased vitamin C levels in plants by overexpression of a D-galacturonic acid reductase

Nature Biotechnology volume 21, pages 177–181 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

L-Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in fruits and vegetables is an essential component of human nutrition. Surprisingly, only limited information is available about the pathway(s) leading to its biosynthesis in plants. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of GalUR, a gene from strawberry that encodes an NADPH-dependent D-galacturonate reductase. We provide evidence that the biosynthesis of L-ascorbic acid in strawberry fruit occurs through D-galacturonic acid, a principal component of cell wall pectins. Expression of GalUR correlated with changing ascorbic acid content in strawberry fruit during ripening and with variations in ascorbic acid content in fruit of different species of the genus Fragaria. Reduced pectin solubilization in cell walls of transgenic strawberry fruit with decreased expression of an endogenous pectate lyase gene resulted in lower ascorbic acid content. Overexpression of GalUR in Arabidopsis thaliana enhanced vitamin C content two- to threefold, demonstrating the feasibility of engineering increased vitamin C levels in plants using this gene.

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Figure 1: Proposed biosynthetic pathways of L-ascorbic acid in animals (reactions 1–8) and plants (reactions 9–20).
Figure 2: Overexpression of GalUR in A. thaliana increases the ascorbic acid content.
Figure 3: Ascorbic acid content correlates with the expression of GalUR.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank D. Bradley, J. Jones, F. Loewus, and I. Amaya for critical review of the manuscript, and J. R. Botella for the pSOV2 delivery. This work was supported by grants (BIO98-0496-C02-01) from Ministry of Education and Science (Spain).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biología Molecular y Bioquímica, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga, 29071, Spain

    Fernanda Agius, Rocío González-Lamothe, Miguel A. Botella & Victoriano Valpuesta

  2. Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba, 14071, Spain

    José L. Caballero & Juan Muñoz-Blanco

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  1. Fernanda Agius
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  2. Rocío González-Lamothe
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Correspondence to Victoriano Valpuesta.

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F.A., M.A.B., and V.V. have filed a patent application relating to the work described in this article.

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Agius, F., González-Lamothe, R., Caballero, J. et al. Engineering increased vitamin C levels in plants by overexpression of a D-galacturonic acid reductase. Nat Biotechnol 21, 177–181 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt777

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