The Plant Journal: GM vitamin C-free plants are unable to grow

The identification of a new enzyme, GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase, which is involved in the production of vitamin C, has allowed scientists from the University of Exeter (UK) and Shimane University (Japan) to engineer plants without the nutrient.

The researchers found that genetically modified vitamin C-free plants were unable to grow, they report in The Plant Journal.

It is hoped the discovery of the new enzyme will “contribute to the efforts of plant scientists to improve crop yield in a sustainable manner”, says Professor Nicholas Smirnoff.  The enzyme also provides the potential to engineer microbes to produce vitamin C dietary supplements in a much simpler process than current manufacturing allows.
By Simon Varcoe

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