Vitamin C discovery could affect supplement production
Scientists have proven that vitamin C is essential for plant growth, a discovery that could have implications for the production of dietary supplements.
As an antioxidant, vitamin C is known to help plants deal with stress, such as drought, ozone and UV radiation.
However, this is the first study to show that plants cannot grow without it.
In a paper published in the Plant Journal, researchers from the University of Exeter and Japan's Shimane University detail the newly-identified enzyme GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase, which has been found to manufacture vitamin C (ascorbate) in plants.
"Vitamin C is the most abundant antioxidant in plants and yet its functions are poorly understood. By discovering that the new enzyme is encoded by two genes, we were able to engineer vitamin C-free plants and found that they were unable to grow," said lead author Professor Nicholas Smirnoff of the University of Exeter.
"The discovery … opens new opportunities to understand fundamental growth processes in plants and to improve plant resistance to stresses in a changing climate," he added.
The finding could lead to a new approach for the production of vitamin C supplements - which are currently a £20 million market in Britain alone - by enabling the process to be a simple one-step process.
Scientists have proven that vitamin C is essential for plant growth, a discovery that could have implications for the production of dietary supplements.
