Protein deficiency is the most crucial factor that affects physical growth and development and that increases morbidity and mortality especially in developing countries. Efforts have been made to improve protein quality and quantity in crop plants but with limited success. Here, we report the development of transgenic potatoes with enhanced nutritive value by tuber-specific expression of a seed protein, AmA1 (Amaranth Albumin 1), in seven genotypic backgrounds suitable for cultivation in different agro-climatic regions. Analyses of the transgenic tubers revealed up to 60% increase in total protein content. In addition, the concentrations of several essential amino acids were increased significantly in transgenic tubers, which are otherwise limited in potato. Moreover, the transgenics also exhibited enhanced photosynthetic activity with a concomitant increase in total biomass. These results are striking because this genetic manipulation also resulted in a moderate increase in tuber yield. The comparative protein profiling suggests that the proteome rebalancing might cause increased protein content in transgenic tubers. Furthermore, the data on field performance and safety evaluation indicate that the transgenic potatoes are suitable for commercial cultivation. In vitro and in vivo studies on experimental animals demonstrate that the transgenic tubers are also safe for human consumption. Altogether, these results emphasize that the expression of AmA1 is a potential strategy for the nutritional improvement of food crops.allergenecity | essential amino acids | nutritional health

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In vivo 31P NMR spectra of wheat, soybean and mustard seeds were recorded during ripening. Signals were detected from phosphomonoesters, cytoplasmic and vacuolar inorganic phosphate (Pi), phytate, nucleoside triphosphate (NTP) and nucleoside diphosphosugars. The spectra of extracts showed an accumulation of phytate during development, accompanied by a decrease in inorganic phosphate, and this was reflected in the in vivo spectra. The intrinsic width of the resonances was a significant obstacle to the interpretation of the in vivo spectra in all three cases, and the problem became more severe with increasing maturity. However, it was still possible to use the chemical shift of the cytoplasmic Pi signal to monitor cytoplasmic pH in both soybean and mustard, and the results provide evidence for the existence of a hypoxic state in developing seeds during the active biosynthetic phase. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.