Abstract
Folates, also known as B9 vitamins, serve as donors and acceptors in one-carbon (C1) transfer reactions. The latter are involved in synthesis of many important biomolecules, such as amino acids, nucleic acids and vitamin B5. Folates also play a central role in the methyl cycle that provides one-carbon groups for methylation reactions. The important functions fulfilled by folates make them essential in all living organisms. Plants, being able to synthesize folates de novo, serve as an excellent dietary source of folates for animals that lack the respective biosynthetic pathway. Unfortunately, the most important staple crops such as rice, potato and maize are rather poor sources of folates. Insufficient folate consumption is known to cause severe developmental disorders in humans. Two approaches are employed to fight folate deficiency: pharmacological supplementation in the form of folate pills and biofortification of staple crops. As the former approach is considered rather costly for the major part of the world population, biofortification of staple crops is viewed as a decent alternative in the struggle against folate deficiency. Therefore, strategies, challenges and recent progress of folate enhancement in plants will be addressed in this review. Apart from the ever-growing need for the enhancement of nutritional quality of crops, the world population faces climate change catastrophes or environmental stresses, such as elevated temperatures, drought, salinity that severely affect growth and productivity of crops. Due to immense diversity of their biochemical functions, folates take part in virtually every aspect of plant physiology. Any disturbance to the plant folate metabolism leads to severe growth inhibition and, as a consequence, to a lower productivity. Whereas today's knowledge of folate biochemistry can be considered very profound, evidence on the physiological roles of folates in plants only starts to emerge. In the current review we will discuss the implication of folates in various aspects of plant physiology and development.
Highlights
Folates are indispensable components of metabolism in all living organisms (Bekaert et al, 2008)
HMDHP pyrophosphokinase (HPPK)/dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) The synthesis of THF in mitochondria starts with pyrophosphorylation of HMDHP and its subsequent coupling with pABA that results in the formation of dihydropteroate
Import of folates in mitochondria certainly exists in plants, since, as mentioned above, Arabidopsis mutants defective in folate biosynthesis can be rescued by application of 5-formyl-THF
Summary
Folates are indispensable components of metabolism in all living organisms (Bekaert et al, 2008). Folate metabolism was shown to be differentially regulated in response to various abiotic stress conditions (Baxter et al, 2007; Neilson et al, 2011), that pointed out its importance and possible specific adjustment in response to different stresses. These findings indicate that physiological roles and regulation of folate metabolism during development and stress response are important elements to be considered in the pursuit of crops with better productivity and improved stress tolerance. This paper summarizes recent findings on the roles of folate metabolism in plant development and its link with other metabolic processes and signaling pathways, as well as points out the role of folates in plant stress response
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
