印度国家植物基因组研究所20日在美国《国家科学院学报》上报告说，他们培育出一种转基因土豆，其蛋白质和氨基酸含量均明显高于普通土豆。
研究人员介绍说，这种转基因土豆可能相对容易被人体接受，因为培育这种土豆使用的外来基因来自另一种可食用植物——苋菜。
苋菜是一种种子很小的阔叶植物，苋菜的AMA1基因非常重要，可以使苋菜及其种子富含蛋白质以及几种基本氨基酸。印度研究人员将AMA1基因植入几种土豆的基因组中，终于在两年后培育出一种富含蛋白质的转基因土豆。
这种转基因土豆比普通土豆的蛋白质含量高35％至60％，其赖氨酸、酪氨酸以及硫的含量也有显著提高。研究人员用转基因土豆喂食老鼠和野兔后，未发现不良后果。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐英文出处：
PNAS doi: 10.1073/pnas.1006265107
Next-generation protein-rich potato expressing the seed protein gene AmA1 is a result of proteome rebalancing in transgenic tuber
Subhra Chakrabortya,1,2, Niranjan Chakrabortya,1, Lalit Agrawala, Sudip Ghosha, Kanika Narulaa, Shubhendu Shekhara, Prakash S. Naikb, P. C. Pandec, Swarup Kumar Chakrbortib, and Asis Dattaa,2
Protein deficiency is the most crucial factor that affects physical growth and development and that increases morbidity and mortality especially in developing countries. Efforts have been made to improve protein quality and quantity in crop plants but with limited success. Here, we report the development of transgenic potatoes with enhanced nutritive value by tuber-specific expression of a seed protein, AmA1 (Amaranth Albumin 1), in seven genotypic backgrounds suitable for cultivation in different agro-climatic regions. Analyses of the transgenic tubers revealed up to 60% increase in total protein content. In addition, the concentrations of several essential amino acids were increased significantly in transgenic tubers, which are otherwise limited in potato. Moreover, the transgenics also exhibited enhanced photosynthetic activity with a concomitant increase in total biomass. These results are striking because this genetic manipulation also resulted in a moderate increase in tuber yield. The comparative protein profiling suggests that the proteome rebalancing might cause increased protein content in transgenic tubers. Furthermore, the data on field performance and safety evaluation indicate that the transgenic potatoes are suitable for commercial cultivation. In vitro and in vivo studies on experimental animals demonstrate that the transgenic tubers are also safe for human consumption. Altogether, these results emphasize that the expression of AmA1 is a potential strategy for the nutritional improvement of food crops.
