AUTHOR=Wurtzel Eleanore T., Cuttriss Abby , Vallabhaneni Ratnakar 

TITLE=Maize Provitamin A Carotenoids, Current Resources, and Future Metabolic Engineering Challenges

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=3

YEAR=2012

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2012.00029

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2012.00029

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Vitamin A deficiency is a serious global health problem that can be alleviated by improved nutrition. Development of cereal crops with increased provitamin A carotenoids can provide a sustainable solution to eliminating vitamin A deficiency worldwide. Maize is a model for cereals and a major staple carbohydrate source. Here, we discuss maize carotenogenesis with regard to pathway regulation, available resources, and current knowledge for improving carotenoid content and levels of provitamin A carotenoids in edible maize endosperm. This knowledge will be applied to improve the nutritional composition of related <italic>Poaceae</italic> crops. We discuss opportunities and challenges for optimizing provitamin A carotenoid biofortification of cereal food crops.</p>