Field selection of elite events of East African highland bananas expressing elevated levels of pro-vitamin A.

ABSTRACT: Biofortification of staple crops is a sustainable strategy to deliver essential micronutrients to impoverished populations in developing countries. Banana is a highly valued crop consumed by over 75% of Ugandans. However, the starchy green cooking bananas have very low levels of pro-vitamin A (PVA) and heavy dietary reliance on them has been associated with vitamin A deficiency (VAD). Two banana cultivars, hybrid M9 and Nakitembe, were selected for PVA biofortification. A phytoene synthase 2a (MtPsy2a) gene was transformed into the selected cultivars under the control of the constitutive maize polyubiquitin1 promoter or the banana fruit-preferred ACC oxidase (ACO) promoter. Plants were regenerated on selective media and putatively transgenic plants confirmed by PCR. A total of 356 and 162

SUBMITTER: Buah S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12392970 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature