Hameed Amir, Zaidi Syed Shan-E-Ali, Shakir Sara, Mansoor Shahid
Department of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Agricultural Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Front Plant Sci. 2018 Jun 29;9:925. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2018.00925. eCollection 2018.
The first decade of genetic engineering primarily focused on quantitative crop improvement. With the advances in technology, the focus of agricultural biotechnology has shifted toward both quantitative and qualitative crop improvement, to deal with the challenges of food security and nutrition. Potato ( L.) is a solanaceous food crop having potential to feed the populating world. It can provide more carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, and vitamins per unit area of land as compared to other potential food crops, and is the major staple food in many developing countries. These aspects have driven the scientific attention to engineer potato for nutrition improvement, keeping the yield unaffected. Several studies have shown the improved nutritional value of potato tubers, for example by enhancing 1 seed protein content, vitamin C content, β-carotene level, triacylglycerol, tuber methionine content, and amylose content, etc. Removal of anti-nutritional compounds like steroidal glycoalkaloids, acrylamide and food toxins is another research priority for scientists and breeders to improve potato tuber quality. Trait improvement using genetic engineering mostly involved the generation of transgenic products. The commercialization of these engineered products has been a challenge due to consumer preference and regulatory/ethical restrictions. In this context, new breeding technolgies like TALEN (transcription activator-like effector nucleases) and CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated 9) have been employed to generate transgene-free products in a more precise, prompt and effective way. Moreover, the availability of potato genome sequence and efficient potato transformation systems have remarkably facilitated potato genetic engineering. Here we summarize the potato trait improvement and potential application of new breeding technologies (NBTs) to genetically improve the overall agronomic profile of potato.
基因工程的第一个十年主要聚焦于作物产量的提高。随着技术的进步，农业生物技术的重点已转向作物产量和品质的双重改良，以应对粮食安全和营养方面的挑战。马铃薯（Solanum tuberosum L.）是一种茄科粮食作物，有潜力养活不断增长的世界人口。与其他潜在的粮食作物相比，它每单位土地面积能提供更多的碳水化合物、蛋白质、矿物质和维生素，并且是许多发展中国家的主要主食。这些因素促使科学界关注通过基因工程改良马铃薯营养，同时保持产量不受影响。多项研究表明，马铃薯块茎的营养价值得到了改善，例如提高了种子蛋白含量、维生素C含量、β-胡萝卜素水平、三酰甘油、块茎蛋氨酸含量和直链淀粉含量等。去除甾体糖苷生物碱、丙烯酰胺和食品毒素等抗营养化合物是科学家和育种者提高马铃薯块茎品质的另一项研究重点。利用基因工程进行性状改良大多涉及转基因产品的产生。由于消费者偏好以及监管/伦理限制，这些工程产品的商业化一直是个挑战。在这种背景下，诸如转录激活样效应因子核酸酶（TALEN）和规律成簇间隔短回文重复序列/CRISPR相关蛋白9（CRISPR/Cas9）等新育种技术已被用于以更精确、迅速和有效的方式产生无转基因产品。此外，马铃薯基因组序列的可得性和高效的马铃薯转化系统极大地促进了马铃薯基因工程。在此，我们总结了马铃薯性状改良以及新育种技术（NBTs）在遗传改良马铃薯整体农艺性状方面的潜在应用。
