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Metabolic redesign of vitamin E biosynthesis in plants for tocotrienol production and increased antioxidant content

Nature Biotechnology volume 21, pages 1082–1087 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Tocotrienols are the primary form of vitamin E in seeds of most monocot plants, including cereals such as rice and wheat. As potent antioxidants, tocotrienols contribute to the nutritive value of cereal grains in human and livestock diets. cDNAs encoding homogentisic acid geranylgeranyl transferase (HGGT), which catalyzes the committed step of tocotrienol biosynthesis, were isolated from barley, wheat and rice seeds. Transgenic expression of the barley HGGT in Arabidopsis thaliana leaves resulted in accumulation of tocotrienols, which were absent from leaves of nontransformed plants, and a 10- to 15-fold increase in total vitamin E antioxidants (tocotrienols plus tocopherols). Overexpression of the barley HGGT in corn seeds resulted in an increase in tocotrienol and tocopherol content of as much as six-fold. These results provide insight into the genetic basis for tocotrienol biosynthesis in plants and demonstrate the ability to enhance the antioxidant content of crops by introduction of an enzyme that redirects metabolic flux.

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Figure 1: Tocotrienol and tocopherol biosynthetic pathways.
Figure 2: Northern blot analysis of the expression of the barley gene encoding HGGT in leaves (L), roots (R) and seeds (S) of barley.
Figure 3: Phylogenetic analysis of HPT and HGGT amino acid sequences.
Figure 4: HPLC analysis of the tocopherol and tocotrienol composition of tobacco callus.
Figure 5: Mass spectra of α-tocotrienol and γ-tocotrienol from organic extracts of tobacco callus expressing the barley HGGT cDNA.
Figure 6: Tocopherol and tocotrienol content of Arabidopsis thaliana leaves and corn seeds expressing the barley HGGT cDNA.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Jerry Ranch for conducting the corn transformation experiments. We also thank Alfred Ciuffetelli for assistance with corn seed analyses and Trissa Miller and Rebecca Cahoon for critical reading of the manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. Edgar B Cahoon

    Present address: USDA–ARS Plant Genetics Research Unit, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, Saint Louis, Missouri, 63132, USA

  2. Sean J Coughlan

    Present address: Agilent Technologies, Inc., Little Falls Site, 2850 Centerville Road, Wilmington, Delaware, 19808-1644, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Crop Genetics Research and Development, Pioneer Hi-Bred, A DuPont Company, Experimental Station, Wilmington, 19880, Delaware, USA

    Edgar B Cahoon, Sarah E Hall, Kevin G Ripp, Thaya S Ganzke, William D Hitz & Sean J Coughlan

  2. USDA–ARS Plant Genetics Research Unit, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, Saint Louis, Missouri, 63132, USA

    Sean J Coughlan

  3. Agilent Technologies, Inc., Little Falls Site, 2850 Centerville Road, Wilmington, Delaware, 19808-1644, USA

    Edgar B Cahoon

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  1. Edgar B Cahoon
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Correspondence to Edgar B Cahoon.

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Patent applications have been filed on the sequences and utility of the cDNAs described in the manuscript.

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Cahoon, E., Hall, S., Ripp, K. et al. Metabolic redesign of vitamin E biosynthesis in plants for tocotrienol production and increased antioxidant content. Nat Biotechnol 21, 1082–1087 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt853

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