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Plant physiologist Autar Mattoo examines tomatoes
for enhanced phytonutrient content and longevity. Click the image for more
information about it.
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Hairy Vetch Mulch Activates Genes for Phytonutrients in
Tomatoes
By Don Comis
March 31, 2008 Hairy vetch mulch activates, in
regular tomatoes, some of the same metabolic pathways and genes that are
activated in biotech tomatoes by the insertion of the ySAMdc gene, which
makes tomato plants more vigorous and makes their fruit more tasty and
nutritious.
In collaborative work with Purdue
University's Avtar Handa and the Italian National Research Agency's
Annalaura Segre, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant physiologist
Autar
K. Mattoo made this finding after growing transgenic and non-transgenic
tomato lines in both black plastic and hairy vetch mulch. Mattoo works at the
ARS Sustainable
Agricultural Systems Laboratory in Beltsville, Md.
The transformed gene creates higher levels of polyamines, which are organic
nitrogen compounds that make tomato plants more vigorous and makes the tomatoes
more tasty and nutritious. Findings indicate that polyamines might act as
signaling molecules and steer metabolic pathways so fruits produce more
phytonutrients.
Mattoo found that tomatoes reacted to the extra polyamines produced by the
new gene the same way that they reacted to the yet-to-be-determined compounds
or signals from hairy vetch. He saw significant buildup of amino acids and
choline, an essential micronutrient for brain development, as well as other
nutrients or antioxidants in both transgenic and non-transgenic plants grown in
hairy vetch.
The study’s results testify to the power of organic legume cover crops
or mulches like hairy vetch. Also, when transgenic tomatoes engineered to
accumulate polyamines in the fruit are planted in hairy vetch, there is a
synergy that causes these fruits to have even more nutrients than the
non-transgenic fruits.
These findings will be published in a forthcoming issue of The Journal of Experimental
Botany.
ARS is the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.
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