Benefiting others and self: Production of vitamins in plants

Abstract

Vitamins maintain growth and development in humans, animals, and plants. Because plants serve as essential producers of vitamins, increasing the vitamin contents in plants has become a goal of crop breeding worldwide. Here, we begin with a summary of the functions of vitamins. We then review the achievements to date in elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying how vitamins are synthesized, transported, and regulated in plants. We also stress the exploration of variation in vitamins by the use of forward genetic approaches, such as quantitative trait locus mapping and genome-wide association studies. Overall, we conclude that exploring the diversity of vitamins could provide new insights into plant metabolism and crop breeding.

Genic microsatellite marker characterization and development in little millet (Panicum sumatrense) using transcriptome sequencing

“…Humans, unlike plants and microorganisms, cannot synthesize ThDP from scratch and must obtain it from their diet. It is shown that severe thiamine deficiency would likely cause the lethal disease beriberi 43 . Therefore, thiamine is a vital micronutrient for humans.…”

Folic Acid Confers Tolerance against Salt Stress-Induced Oxidative Damages in Snap Beans through Regulation Growth, Metabolites, Antioxidant Machinery and Gene Expression

“…Vitamins produced by plants are essential, not only for their effect on humans when ingested but also for their vital role in the plant itself [ 15 ]. Some of them show strong antioxidant potential, such as the water-soluble vitamins (B and C) as well as the lipid-soluble ones (A, E, and K) [ 16 ].…”

Vitamin B1 THIAMIN REQUIRING1 synthase mediates the maintenance of chloroplast function by regulating sugar and fatty acid metabolism in rice

“…In Arabidopsis , most of the enzymes and genes involved in VB1 biosynthesis have been reported (Mimura et al, 2016; Hsieh et al, 2017), with only the enzyme mediating a deadenylation step in thiazole synthesis remaining unidentified in plants. Study of these genes can prove challenging because their loss of function generally results in seedling death (Goyer, 2010; Gerdes et al, 2012; Li et al, 2021). In Arabidopsis , for instance, THIC , THI1 , and TH1 are each present in only one copy, and knockout mutant of these genes are chlorotic and die in the seedling stage (Papini‐Terzi et al, 2003; Raschke et al, 2007; Ajjawi et al, 2007b; Kong et al, 2008).…”