Total tocopherol levels in maize grain depend on chlorophyll biosynthesis within the embryo.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Tocopherols are a class of lipid-soluble compounds that have multiple functional roles in plants and exhibit vitamin E activity, an essential nutrient for human and animal health. The tocopherol biosynthetic pathway is conserved across the plant kingdom, but source of the key tocopherol pathway precursor, phytol, is unclear. Two protochlorophyllide reductases (POR1 and POR2) were previously identified as loci controlling the natural variation of total tocopherols in maize grain, a non-photosynthetic tissue. POR1 and POR2 are key genes in chlorophyll biosynthesis yet the contribution of the chlorophyll biosynthetic pathway to tocopherol biosynthesis is still not understood.

Results

We took two approaches to alter the activity of these two POR genes within kernel ti

SUBMITTER: Herr S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11905637 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature