How do potatoes produce and accumulate beta-carotene?
According to the World Health Organization, 100 to 140 million children in the developing world suffer from Vitamin A deficiency, which can cause blindness and death. Joyce Van Ecks laboratory is developing ways to produce potatoes with higher beta-carotene content the precursor to Vitamin A which could help alleviate this serious health issue. In related work, Tom Brutnells research team is investigating beta-carotene production in maize. Van Ecks laboratory helped develop two lines of modified potatoes that accumulate more beta-carotene than conventional varieties. Van Eck knocked out, or silenced, a gene in one line that converts beta-carotene into zeaxanthin, a carotenoid that is not converted into Vitamin A. She theorized and proved that silencing the gene would cause the potatoes to accumulate more beta-carotene. In the other line, Van Eck inserted a gene called Or from a naturally occurring orange cauliflower, which caused the modified potatoes to accumulate more beta-carotene t
