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Metabolic engineering of low-molecular-weight antioxidants in sweetpotato

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Abstract

Environmental stress leads to the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and consequently oxidative stress, which limits plant productivity. Thus, new crop cultivars that are able to overcome oxidative stress are required to address the global issues of environmental, food, and energy security. Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam) is considered an emerging multifunctional crop because of its high carbohydrate content and adaptation to marginal lands. Moreover, sweetpotato offers several health benefits for the aging population, as it is rich in low-molecular-weight antioxidants (LMWAs) (e.g., carotenoids, ascorbate, tocopherols, and polyphenols), dietary fiber, potassium, and minerals. We speculate that metabolic engineering of LMWAs in sweetpotato will lead to the development of smart cultivars with enhanced levels of antioxidants and abiotic stress tolerance. This review describes the current status of metabolic engineering of LMWAs in sweetpotato and the potential of sweetpotato in ensuring food and nutrition security in the twenty-first century. Here, we focus on carotenoids, ascorbate, tocopherols, and polyphenols including anthocyanins in transgenic sweetpotato plants. Additionally, we discuss the potential role of the sweetpotato Orange (IbOr) gene, involved in carotenoid accumulation and stress tolerance, in improving crop productivity under the changing global climate and alleviating the problem of vitamin A deficiency. Genetic engineering of the biosynthetic and metabolic genes of LMWAs in sweetpotato is currently under investigation via molecular breeding. We predict that metabolic engineering of antioxidants in sweetpotato will lead to the development of new cultivars with enhanced nutritional value and abiotic stress tolerance, which will ensure global food and nutrition security in the face of climate change.

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Fig. 1

modified from Kim et al. 2018a)

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Abbreviations

CA:

Caffeic acid

CQAs:

Caffeoylquinic acid derivatives

CCDs:

Carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases

CHY-β:

β-Carotene hydroxylase

DHAR:

Dehydroascorbate reductase

IbOr:

Sweetpotato orange

LCY-β:

Lycopene beta cyclase

LCY-ε:

Lycopene epsilon cyclase

LMWA:

Low-molecular-weight antioxidant

PsbP:

Oxygen-evolving enhancer protein 2–1

PSY:

Phytoene synthase

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

TC:

Tocopherol cyclase

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Systems & Synthetic Agrobiotech Center (PJ01318401 and PJ01318402), the Biogreen 21 Project for the Next Generation, Rural Development Administration, Korea, the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (2020R1A2C1004560), the Basic Research Program of Shanxi Province of China (201801D121204), National Natural Science Foundation of China (31901588) and the KRIBB initiative program.

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Author notes

  1. Ho Soo Kim, Wenbin Wang, and Le Kang have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Systems Engineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), 125 Gwahak-ro, Daejeon, 34141, Korea

    Ho Soo Kim, So-Eun Kim, Chan-Ju Lee, Sung-Chul Park & Sang-Soo Kwak

  2. College of Life Sciences, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, 030801, China

    Wenbin Wang

  3. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, China West Normal University, Nanchong, 637002, Sichuan, China

    Le Kang

  4. Department of Environmental Biotechnology, KRIBB School of Biotechnology, University of Science and Technology (UST), 217 Gajeong-ro, Daejeon, 34113, Korea

    So-Eun Kim, Chan-Ju Lee & Sang-Soo Kwak

  5. College of Pharmacy and Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Gyeongsang National University, 501 Jinjudae-ro, Jinju, 52828, Korea

    Woo Sung Park & Mi-Jeong Ahn

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  1. Ho Soo Kim
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HSK, WBW, LK, and SSK organized the manuscript. HSK and SSK wrote the manuscript, with critical input from other co-authors. HSK and WBW prepared the figures, with support from SSK.

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Correspondence to Mi-Jeong Ahn or Sang-Soo Kwak.

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Kim, H.S., Wang, W., Kang, L. et al. Metabolic engineering of low-molecular-weight antioxidants in sweetpotato. Plant Biotechnol Rep 14, 193–205 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11816-020-00621-w

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