[Ming-Hsiun Hsieh] Vitamin B1 biosynthesis in rice
POST:
Fig. 1 Phenotypes of a representative Ospale1 CRISPR mutant compared with the wild type (WT) at a similar developmental stage.
Dr. Ming-Hsiun Hsieh’s laboratory used the CRISPR/Cas9 technology to prove that the OsPALE1 protein is involved in vitamin B1 biosynthesis in rice. Vitamin B1 is an essential cofactor for central metabolism in all organisms, but polished white rice is a poor source of vitamin B1. Biofortification of rice with vitamin B1 has the potential to improve human health and crop yield. The implementation of this strategy requires detailed knowledge about the biosynthesis of vitamin B1, which is poorly studied in rice. The identification of OsPALE1 advances our knowledge in vitamin B1 biosynthesis, and may have practical application in agriculture and human nutrition in the future. The paper is published in Plant Biotechnology Journal (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/pbi.13465) and the lead authors include Ping-Han Hsieh, Yi-Hsin Chung and Kim-Teng Lee of the Hsieh Lab.