There are currently 402 studies in the GENERA database.

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General Information

Document type
  • Peer-reviewed journal article
GE organism
  • tomato
GE trait
  • quality
Country
  • UK, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands

Results

Efficacy
  • positive effect
Safety for consumption
  • positive effect

Enrichment of tomato fruit with health-promoting anthocyanins by expression of select transcription factors

Butelli, E; Titta, L; Giorgio, M; Mock, HP; Matros, A; Peterek, S; Schijlen, EG; Hall, RD; Bovy, AG; Luo, J; Martin, C
Nature Biotechnology. 2008 November. 26(11):1301-8

Link to full text (journal may charge for access)

PMID: 18953354 DOI: 10.1038/nbt.1506 ISSN: 1087-0156

Abstract

Dietary consumption of anthocyanins, a class of pigments produced by higher plants, has been associated with protection against a broad range of human diseases. However, anthocyanin levels in the most commonly eaten fruits and vegetables may be inadequate to confer optimal benefits. When we expressed two transcription factors from snapdragon in tomato, the fruit of the plants accumulated anthocyanins at levels substantially higher than previously reported for efforts to engineer anthocyanin accumulation in tomato and at concentrations comparable to the anthocyanin levels found in blackberries and blueberries. Expression of the two transgenes enhanced the hydrophilic antioxidant capacity of tomato fruit threefold and resulted in fruit with intense purple coloration in both peel and flesh. In a pilot test, cancer-susceptible Trp53(-/-) mice fed a diet supplemented with the high-anthocyanin tomatoes showed a significant extension of life span.

Keywords

tomato, anthocyanin, purple, lycopene, antioxidant

Funding

Funding source
  • EU FP5 PROFOOD
  • EU FP6 FLORA
  • Netherlands Genomic Initiative
  • Biological and Biotechnological Science Research Council
Funding country
  • EU
  • Netherlands
  • UK
Funding type
  • government

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Cite this study

MLA

Butelli, E, L Titta, M Giorgio, HP Mock, A Matros, S Peterek, EG Schijlen, RD Hall, AG Bovy, J Luo, C Martin. "Enrichment of tomato fruit with health-promoting anthocyanins by expression of select transcription factors." Nature Biotechnology 26.11 (2008): 1301-8. Web. 12 Oct. 2024.

APA

Butelli, E., Titta, L., Giorgio, M., Mock, HP., Matros, A., Peterek, S., Schijlen, EG., Hall, RD., Bovy, AG., Luo, J., & Martin, C. (2008). Enrichment of tomato fruit with health-promoting anthocyanins by expression of select transcription factors. Nature Biotechnology, 26(11), 1301-8. doi:10.1038/nbt.1506

Please verify citations before use, citations are automatically generated based on information stored within the GENERA database and therefore may or may not be correct.