作者：Pons E, Alquézar B, Rodríguez A, Martorell P, Genovés S, Llopis S, González N, Ramón D, Rodrigo M.J, Zacarías L, Peña L.
作者单位：Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Centro de Protección Vegetal y Biotecnología, Spain
摘要：β-Carotene is one of the most efficient carotenoid singlet oxygen quenchers and may interfere in free radical oxidation, typical of many degenerative diseases. Besides its activity as protective agent against oxidative stress, βヽarotene also plays a nutritional role as precursor of vitamin A with twice the efficiency of any other pro-vitamin A carotenoid. Orange fruit is an excellent natural dietary source of carotenoids, as well as other nutrients and health-promoting compounds such as vitamin C, flavonoids and folic acid. However, the most abundant carotenoids present in the pulp of mature oranges are β-β-xanthophylls, while β-carotene is hardly detectable. In response to a growing public interest in healthy plant products, this work was aimed to strengthen the health benefits of orange fruits by increasing its β-carotene content through metabolic engineering. We addressed this goal by blocking the expression of the endogenous β-carotene hydroxylase gene (β-CHX), involved in the conversion of β-carotene into xanthophylls, using RNA interference technology. Mature fruits of transgenic plants obtained showed changes in carotenoid content and composition in the pulp, with an increase in β-carotene accompanied by a general decrease of xanthophylls. The putative enhanced capacity of transgenic oranges for protection against oxidative stress and/or degenerative diseases may be due to an additive/synergistic effect of increased β-carotene content in a background matrix rich in vitamin C and other phytonutrients. This has been assessed by using Caenorhabditis elegans as experimental animal model. Results of in vivo assays will be presented and discussed.
文献注录：Pons E, Alquézar B, Rodríguez A, Martorell P, Genovés S, Llopis S, González N, Ramón D, Rodrigo M.J, Zacarías L, Peña L.. Improving in vivo antioxidant properties of orange fruits through increased β-carotene content [A]. [C] Ⅶ International Citrus Congress. 2012.
报/刊名：《》，发表于2012
文献类型： [A]
页码：第 页 / 共 页