Cereal asparagine synthetase genes

Abstract

Asparagine synthetase catalyses the transfer of an amino group from glutamine to aspartate to form glutamate and asparagine. The accumulation of free (nonprotein) asparagine in crops has implications for food safety because free asparagine is the precursor for acrylamide, a carcinogenic contaminant that forms during hightemperature cooking and processing. Here we review publicly available genome data for asparagine synthetase genes from species of the Pooideae subfamily, including bread wheat and related wheat…