Current Status of Wheat Biofortification with Iron, Zinc and Protein Hidden Hunger Methods of Biofortification

1. Agriculture and Forestry
University(AFU)
Presented by:
Prabesh Koirala, M.Sc.Ag
Exam Roll No: PLB-06M-2019
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding
Agriculture & Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan
Credit Seminar on:
Biofortification of Wheat

2. HIGHLIGHTS
 Introduction
 Importance and Advantages
 Hidden Hunger Problem & Its Solution
 Biofortification Vs Fortification
 Current Status of Biofortified Crops
 Wheat: Introduction & Nutritive value
 History of Biofortification in Wheat
 Different Approaches of Biofortification
 Breeding Procedures and Biofortification Pathways in Wheat
 Constraints of Biofortification
 Achievements of Biofortification in Wheat
 Conclusion

3. Introduction
 Cereals meet 60% of energy and protein needs of human.
 Up to 75% of the daily calorie intake of the developing world people living
in the rural areas comes only from cereal-based foods which are inherently
low in micronutrients specially Fe and Zn (Cakmak, 2012).
 A diet of 300-400 g cereal/day will supply only 11-18 mg Zn per day in
case of wheat.

4. Introduction
 Greek word “Bios” means Life and Latin word “fortificare” means “make
strong”
 Method of breeding crops to increase their nutritional value
 Increasing bio-available mineral content of food crops genetically
 Nutritional quality of food crops is improved through agronomic practices,
conventional plant breeding, or modern biotechnology (WHO,2011)
 Focuses on making plant foods more nutritious as the plants are growing,
rather than having nutrients added to the foods when they are being
processed.

5. Hidden Hunger
 Hidden hunger emerging as a major challenge for agricultural scientist
(Jawaldeh, 2020)
 Lack of essentials vitamins and minerals (vitamin A, Zinc, Iron, etc)
 Over half of global population who dependent mainly on wheat, rice, and
maize are affected by micro nutrient malnutrition especially Zn and Fe
(Ramzan et al.,2020)
 WHO estimates that approximately 25% and 17.3% of people worldwide
suffer from Iron and Zinc deficiency respectively

6. Hidden Hunger; Undernourished
Population Status In The World

7. Global Scenario Of Iron Deficiency In
Humans

8. Global Scenario Of Zn Deficiency In Soil &
Humans

9. Nutrition Status In Nepal
 Malnutrition remain major concern for Nepal
 More than 40% children under age 5 years are stunted, 10% suffer from
wasting
 48% of pregnant and lactating women suffer from anemia as well as
micronutrient deficiencies (USAID, 2019)

10. Hidden Hunger

11. Recommended Daily Allowance Of Zinc,
Iron & Protein

12. Hidden Hunger Solutions
 Dietary Diversification
 Mineral Supplementation
 Post-Harvest food
fortification
 Biofortification
It is one of the major
strategies to improve the
nutritional quality of the food
supply among various possible
techniques.

13. Biofortification Vs Fortification

14. Importance & Advantages
 Highly cost effective, sustainable and feasible solution for alleviating
malnutrition
 Increase the nutritional quality in the daily diets
 Increase the vigor and development of crops
 Reduces abiotic stress tolerance on plants and improving disease
resistance
 Easily replicable and distributed without any reduction in the
micronutrient concentration
 Helps to target rural population where fortified food may not be
available
(Bowers & Wittenmyer, 2007)

15. Current Status Of Biofortified Crops
393 biofortified
crop varieties
(primary staples
such as rice, wheat,
maize, cassava,
sweet potato,
beans, and pearl
millet) released or
are in testing in 63
countries,
potentially
benefitting more
than 48 million
people.
Fig: List of biofortified crops across different countries

16. Wheat; Introduction
 Rank second in total production as cereal crop behind maize and third
being rice
 Wheat provides nutrition to 35% world population
 Third most important crop in Nepal after rice and maize in terms of area
and production
 In Nepal, Farmers collectively produce nearly two million tons of wheat
each year
 In Nepal, Families consume wheat products, such as chapati, roti, momo
dumplings, and noodles

17. Zn And Fe Content Of Wheat, Durum &
Other Wild Species
Rawat et al. (2009)
Table: Iron & Zinc content in Wheat and other wild relatives

18. History Of Biofortification In Wheat
 CIMMYT initiated biofortification in wheat breeding in 2006 in collaboration
with partners of HarvestPlus Program
 The major objective of Biofortified Wheat Project is to develop nutritionally
enhanced cultivars of common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to increase
peoples’ intake of Zinc and Iron (Velu, 2012)
 Wheat has been considered ideal for biofortification due to its significant role
in ensuring food security (Singh & Velu, 2017)
 Zinc Wheat is grown by one million farmers across South Asia benefiting 3-4
million household members (CIMMYT,2020)
 Within 10 years, least 80% of all zinc wheat lines will be released in Asia, Africa
and Latin America (CIMMYT, 2020)

19. History of Wheat Biofortification in Nepal
 National Wheat Research Program maintained 150 landraces of wheat and
Agriculture Botany Division (ABD)
 Advanced line from CYMMIT being evaluated across multiple environments in
Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan) and Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Mexico,
South Africa, Sudan and Zambia (Andersson et al., 2017; Singh & Velu, 2017)
 The five new biofortified varieties — Bheri-Ganga, Himganga, Khumal-Shakti,
Zinc Gahun 1 and Zinc Gahun 2 — and wheat blast-resistant variety Borlaug
2020 were developed in a “fast-track” approach (CIMMYT,2020)
 These varieties are nearly 20-40% higher in Zn and Fe than local commercial
crops

20. Methods of Biofortification
Fig: Different approaches of biofortification

21. Methods of Biofortification
Carg et al. (2018)
Fig: Biofortified Crops generated by different approaches

22. Agronomic Approaches In Wheat
Fertilizer Application
• Soil Application
• Foliar Spray
Use Of Microorganisms
• Biofertilizers
• N2 fixing bacteria

23. Agronomic Approaches
 Zn and Fe content of grain can be increased by fertilizing the plants with zinc and
Iron fertilizers.
 Zhang et al. (2012) reported a 58% increase in whole grain Zn, 76% increase in
wheat flour Zn using a foliar application of 0.4% ZnSO4·7H2O.
 Zou et al.(2012) reported increased grain Zn by 84% and 90%, by using Zn as a
foliar spray.
 Mycorrhizal fungi along with fertilizers are extensively being used for
biofortification (Nooria et al., 2014)
 Iron biofortification of wheat grains through integrated use of organic and
chemical fertilizers and zinc biofortification by using Bacillus aryabhattai (Ramjani
et al., 2016; Sharma et al., 2014)

24. Transgenic Approaches

25. Pathway For Biofortifcation

26. Transgenic Approaches
 Expression of ferritin gene from soybean and wheat [TaFer1-A]has enhanced iron
content in wheat (Borg et al., 2012; Xiaoyon et al., 2012)
 To increase iron bioavailability, phytase activity was increased by the expression of
the phytochrome gene [phyA(80)] and phytic acid content has been decreased by
silencing of wheat ABCC13 transporter (Bhati, 2016)
 Protein content, especially essential amino acids lysine, methionine, cysteine, and
tyrosine contents of wheat grains were enhanced using Amaranthus albu-min gene
[ama1](Tamas et al., 2009)
 Wheat has also been targeted to improve the antioxidant activity by expressing
maize regulatory genes (C1, B-peru) involved in anthocyanin production (Doshi et
al., 2006)

27. Comparison of Different Approaches of
Biofortification

28. Iron and zinc uptake and translocation to
the grain
 Fe and Zn uptake from the rhizosphere occurs by two processes.
 One is the direct uptake of Fe2+ and Zn2+ by ZRT, IRT-like proteins referred as
ZIPs.
 Another is by secretion of phytosiderophores, which chelate Fe cations and
these chelated forms are taken up by yellow stripe like (YSL) transporters
(Sperotto et al., 2012)
 ZIP/YSL family proteins facilitate the transfer from xylem to phloem in the
basal part of the shoot or during remobilization from the leaves during grain
filling.
 Transporters belonging to ZIP, YSL, and metal tolerance protein (MTP) families
have been suggested to be involved in the transport of these cations from the
maternal tissue into the endosperm cavity, aleurone layer and embryo (Borg et
al., 2012; Tauris et al., 2009).

29. Iron and zinc uptake and translocation to
the grain
ZIP = ZRT-, IRT-like protein, YSL
= yellow stripe like transporter,
MFS = major facilitator
superfamily transporter, MTP =
metal tolerance protein, HMA =
heavy metal ATPase, FPN =
ferroportin, NRAMP = natural
resistance-associated
macrophage protein, VIT =
vacuolar iron transporter, NA =
nicotianamine, Cit = citrate, SP =
small proteins.
Borris et.al. (2018)

30. Micronutrients Bioavailability
 Bioavailability of Fe and Zn in staple food crop seeds and grains is as low as 5% and
25%, respectively (Bouis & Welch, 2010)
 Phytic acid and tannins present in grains of cereals can reduce the bioavailability of
micronutrients (Guttieri et al. 2006)
 Genetic make up and environmental conditions affects composition of the grain with
respect to micronutrients (Welch and Graham 2004; White & Broadley,2005). Zn
fertigation affects the phytic acid concentration in the wheat grain.
 The A and D genomes were reported to contribute to high Zn efficiency
 Morgounov et al. (2007) reported grain Fe concentration in the range of 39-48
mg/kg in a set of 25 spring wheat cultivars and 34-43 mg/kg for 41 winter wheat
cultivars with the exception of one spring wheat cultivar, Chelyaba, that had grain Fe
concentration of 56 mg/kg.
 Similarly, the Zn concentrations reported in the winter wheat and the spring wheat
sets were 23–33 and 20-39 mg/kg, respectively (Tiwari et al., 2009).

31. Advances In Wheat Applicable to Biofortication
 Genome and gene sequence availability
 More precise mapping and deployment of grain Fe & Zn trait through MAS
 Novel experiments using sequence data resources
 Sequence data, reduced cost of sequencing allows new ways of investigating gene
function related to grain Fe & Zn
 Reverse genetic mutant resources
 Characterize existing chemically mutagenized population for rapid discovery of
specific genes
 Transgenic methods improvements
 CRISPR/CAS9 technology

32. Drawbacks
 Farmers generally prefer crop with superior agronomic quality and
high productivity(Saltzman et al., 2013)
 Selective breeding is required which might be a troublesome
procedure
 High efficiency must be demonstrated to address the problem of
hidden hunger

33. Conclusion
 Biofortification is a promising, cost effective, agricultural strategy for
improving the nutritional status of malnourished populations throughout the
world.
 Biofortification strategies based on crop breeding, targeted genetic
manipulation and or the application of mineral fertilizers hold great potential
for addressing mineral malnutrition in humans.
 As wheat is the major staple food crop in temperate countries and frequently
consumed in developing countries, it becomes necessary to biofortify the
wheat with micronutrients especially, iron and zinc, for fulfilling the
requirement of the human for better health

34. Thank You For Your
Patience!!!
Any Queries??
Agriculture and Forestry
University(AFU)