
Udderly
Fantastic: Mutant Plants a High Source of CalciumBy Lupe Chavez September 14, 2001A mutant plant that could provide
more calcium to daily meals has been identified by an
Agricultural Research Service scientist
in Houston. This breakthrough will help scientists unlock more nutrients stored
in plants. Some commonly consumed plant leaves, like spinach, have high amounts of
calcium stored in cellular crystals as calcium oxalate. But humans are unable
to break down the crystals, and the calcium goes to waste. However, Paul
Nakata, a plant physiologist with the ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center at
the Baylor College of Medicine, has
made major discoveries about the formation of calcium oxalate crystals. Nakata
is continuing research on his findings published in the journalPlant Physiology. In his ARS-funded study, Nakata isolated mutants of Medicago
truncatula, a legume similar to alfalfa. In the laboratory, various M.
truncatula plants displayed different amounts of crystal formation. Nakata
compared the plants to each other in an effort to find which mutations would
yield the most "free" calcium. One plant formed very minute levels of
crystals, leaving calcium in a potentially usable state. Understanding the mechanisms that form these crystals could improve human
nutrition. Plants that take up calcium from the soil could potentially provide
consumers with more usable calcium, the key ingredient for bone growth and
development in children and adults. The calcium-yielding mutant is undergoing further tests to determine if it
is a viable crop plant. Nakata is currently cataloging its characteristics. He
is checking to see if the mutation affected the plant's growth, and its
vulnerability to pathogens, fungi, insects, temperature and other environmental
conditions. ARS researchers also made another discovery while analyzing the mutated
plants. They were able to find mutations that created different crystalline
shapes, something that may have occurred naturally in the evolution of plant
cells. The calcium oxalate crystal has a coffin-shaped configuration; however,
scientists saw that some mutant plants had square, rectangular, or
diamond-shaped crystals. Some of these crystal shapes match those present in
other legumes. ARS is the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's chief scientific research agency. Story contacts Paul A Nakata U.S. Department of Agriculture |