title: Zinc biofortification of cereals: problems and solutions.
abstract: The goal of biofortification is to develop plants that have an increased content of bioavailable nutrients in their edible parts. Cereals serve as the main staple food for a large proportion of the world population but have the shortcoming, from a nutrition perspective, of being low in zinc and other essential nutrients. Major bottlenecks in plant biofortification appear to be the root-shoot barrier and--in cereals--the process of grain filling. New findings demonstrate that the root-shoot distribution of zinc is controlled mainly by heavy metal transporting P1B-ATPases and the metal tolerance protein (MTP) family. A greater understanding of zinc transport is important to improve crop quality and also to help alleviate accumulation of any toxic metals.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Membrane Pumps in Cells and Disease - PUMPKIN, Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, DK-1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark. palmgren@life.ku.dk
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Palmgren
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Clemens
authors.forename: Lorraine E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Ute
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Krämer
authors.forename: Søren
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Borg
authors.forename: Jan K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Schjørring
authors.forename: Dale
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sanders
mesh_terms: D002104:Cadmium / Q000378:metabolism; D002523:Edible Grain / Q000378:metabolism*; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000378:metabolism*; D012639:Seeds / Q000378:metabolism*; D052584:Xylem / Q000378:metabolism; D015032:Zinc / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002104:Cadmium; D015032:Zinc