Engineering plants with increased levels of the antioxidant chlorogenic acid

Ricarda Niggeweg; Anthony J. Michael; Cathie Martin

doi:10.1038/nbt966

Engineering plants with increased levels of the antioxidant chlorogenic acid

Ricarda Niggeweg, Anthony J. Michael, Cathie Martin

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

599 Scopus citations

Abstract

The trend to view many foods not only as sustenance but also as medicine, so-called functional foods, is increasing. Phenolics are the most widespread dietary antioxidants, and among these, chlorogenic acid (CGA) accumulates to high levels in some crop plants. CGA acts as an antioxidant in plants and protects against degenerative, age-related diseases in animals when supplied in their diet. cDNA clones encoding the enzyme that synthesizes CGA, hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA quinate: hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HQT), were characterized from tomato and tobacco. Gene silencing proved HQT to be the principal route for accumulation of CGA in solanaceous species. Overexpression of HQT in tomato caused plants to accumulate higher levels of CGA, with no side-effects on the levels of other soluble phenolics, and to show improved antioxidant capacity and resistance to infection by a bacterial pathogen. Tomatoes with elevated CGA levels could be used in foods with specific benefits for human health.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	746-754
Number of pages	9
Journal	Nature biotechnology
Volume	22
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt966
State	Published - Jun 2004

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Biotechnology
Bioengineering
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
Molecular Medicine
Biomedical Engineering

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title = "Engineering plants with increased levels of the antioxidant chlorogenic acid",

abstract = "The trend to view many foods not only as sustenance but also as medicine, so-called functional foods, is increasing. Phenolics are the most widespread dietary antioxidants, and among these, chlorogenic acid (CGA) accumulates to high levels in some crop plants. CGA acts as an antioxidant in plants and protects against degenerative, age-related diseases in animals when supplied in their diet. cDNA clones encoding the enzyme that synthesizes CGA, hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA quinate: hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HQT), were characterized from tomato and tobacco. Gene silencing proved HQT to be the principal route for accumulation of CGA in solanaceous species. Overexpression of HQT in tomato caused plants to accumulate higher levels of CGA, with no side-effects on the levels of other soluble phenolics, and to show improved antioxidant capacity and resistance to infection by a bacterial pathogen. Tomatoes with elevated CGA levels could be used in foods with specific benefits for human health.",

author = "Ricarda Niggeweg and Michael, {Anthony J.} and Cathie Martin",

note = "Funding Information: We thank Alison Smith, Nick Walton and Adrian Parr for advice on enzyme purification and assay, Lionel Hill, Melinda Meyer and Fred Mellon for advice on HPLC and LC-MS, Mike Naldrett and Andrew Bottrill for provision of the Q-ToF-MS data, Phil Mullineaux and Baldeep Kumar for advice on measuring oxidative stress in plants, Max Dow for advice on pathogen infection of tomato, Mary Parker for lignin analysis, David Hopwood for comments on the manuscript, and Keith Waldron, Charlotte Parker, Stephen Bornemann and Andrew Smith for stimulating discussions on strategies to manipulate phenylpropanoid metabolism. This work was supported by award 218/D11645 from the Biological and Biotechnological Science Research Council (BBSRC) Agri-Food Committee, by the EU FP5 PROFOOD project (QLK1-CT-2001-01080) and both C.M. and A.J.M. are supported by core strategic grants from BBSRC.",

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Engineering plants with increased levels of the antioxidant chlorogenic acid

Abstract

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