Reduction of antinutritional glucosinolates in Brassica oilseeds by mutation of genes encoding transporters

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

The nutritional value of Brassica seed meals is reduced by the presence of glucosinolates, which are toxic compounds involved in plant defense. Mutation of the genes encoding two glucosinolate transporters (GTRs) eliminated glucosinolates from Arabidopsis thaliana seeds, but translation of loss-of-function phenotypes into Brassica crops is challenging because Brassica is polyploid. We mutated one of seven and four of 12 GTR orthologs and reduced glucosinolate levels in seeds by 60-70% in two different Brassica species (Brassica rapa and Brassica juncea). Reduction in seed glucosinolates was stably inherited over multiple generations and maintained in field trials of two mutant populations at three locations. Successful translation of the gtr loss-of-function phenotype from model plant to two Brassica crops suggests that our transport engineering approach could be broadly applied to reduce seed glucosinolate content in other oilseed crops, such as Camelina sativa or Crambe abyssinica.

Original languageEnglish
JournalNature Biotechnology
Volume35
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)377-382
Number of pages6
ISSN1087-0156
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

    Research areas

  • Brassica, Genetic Enhancement, Glucosinolates, Monosaccharide Transport Proteins, Mutation, Plant Oils, Plants, Genetically Modified, Seeds, Journal Article

ID: 180759552