Nullification of GFTs fortifies bioactive folates in foxtail millet

Abstract:

we successfully created folate‐fortified S. italica lines in the commercial elite cultivar Yugu1 by targeted disruption of SiGFT genes, providing a promising route for folate biofortification in other cereal staple crops, such as maize, rice and wheat, while overcoming the transgene silencing seen with traditional transgenic approaches (Blancquaert et al., 2015; De Lepeleire et al., 2018). Further studies and analysis are needed to clarify the divergent

functions of SiGFT1 and SiGFT2. For pregnant women and the elderly in poor and rural regions where dietary diversification is impossible to achieve, however, consuming cereals biofortified with folates might contribute to their supply of daily needs.

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