Recent advances and perspectives in crop biofortification

Abstract

The increasing world population and limited amount of land area appropriate for intensive agriculture necessitate highyield cultivars. The focus is on the enrichment of existing crops deficient in nutrients, which is also called biofortification. Microelements, vitamins, and fatty acids belong to most important traits being subjected to biofortification. Biofortification strategies can be divided on fertilization-based strategy, which is characterized by direct application of nutrients or plant growth promoting substances on plants, and biotechnological strategy, which involves molecular biology techniques in order to enhance transport, production, and accumulation of nutrients. Recent advances in plant biotechnology, such as genome-editing, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated 9 (Cas9), and transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN), as well as an extensive study of genetic diversity, are acceptable approaches to the development of biofortified crops.

Mainstreaming production and nutrient resilience of vegetable crops in megacities: pre-breeding for terrace cultivation

“…Natural disasters, sudden epidemics, or uncertainties in human society can disrupt vegetable supply, leading to potential nutrient deficiencies. In such situations, nutrient enhancement or “biofortification” becomes crucial to ensure an adequate supply of important nutrients such as chlorophyll, cellulose, and vitamins from plants ( Vlčko and Ohnoutková, 2019 ; Bhambhani et al., 2021 ), which is an important part of the resilience of megacities ( Junior, 2017 ; Langemeyer et al., 2021 ). Just as the CRISPR mutation of OsHOL1 increases iodine content ( Carlessi et al., 2021 ), the CRISPR-mediated marker-free double insertion of SSU-crtI and ZmPsy has been shown to increase carotene content in rice ( Dong et al., 2020 ).…”

Assessment of Biofortification Approaches Used to Improve Micronutrient-Dense Plants That Are a Sustainable Solution to Combat Hidden Hunger

“…MAS is an indirect selection process in which the desired trait is selected with DNA (such as intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR), simple sequence repeat (SSR), random amplified polymorphic DNA, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)) and RNA markers known as molecular markers or specific markers such as morphological and biochemical. It is a technique that is routinely used in conventional breeding programs and facilitates the breeding and selection of suitable genotypes (Vlcko and Ohnoutkova 2019). This genomic approach has been used in the development of provitamin A in maize cultivars where germplasm with high β-carotenoid content was selected (Masuka et al 2017).…”