Abstract
Rice is an excellent source of protein, and has an adequate balance of amino acids with the exception of the essential amino acid lysine. By using a combined enhancement of lysine synthesis and suppression of its catabolism, we had produced two transgenic rice lines HFL1 and HFL2 (High Free Lysine) containing high concentration of free lysine. In this study, a 70-day rat feeding study was conducted to assess the nutritional value of two transgenic lines as compared with either their wild type (WT) or the WT rice supplemented with different concentrations of L-lysine. The results revealed that animal performance, including body weight, food intake, and food efficiency, was greater in the HFL groups than in the WT group. Moreover, the HFL diets had increased protein apparent digestibility, protein efficiency ratio, and lysine availability than the WT diet. Based on the linear relationship between dietary L-lysine concentrations and animal performance, it indicated that the biological indexes of the HFL groups were similar or better than that of the WT20 group, which was supplemented with L-lysine concentrations similar to those present in the HFL diets. Therefore, lysine-biofortified rice contributed to improved growth performance, food efficiency, and lysine availability in growing rats.
Highlights
Transgenic strategies may improve the nutritional value of crops and ensure food security[1]
The free lysine level dramatically increased in the two HFL lines, and total lysine content was higher in HFL1 (+24%) and HFL2 (+19%) than in wild type (WT) rice
The results shown that serum lysine content was increased significantly in the HFL groups and WT40 group, with no significant increase in WT rice contained 10% (WT10) and WT20 groups, compared with that of WT groups (Fig. 6a)
Summary
Transgenic strategies may improve the nutritional value of crops and ensure food security[1]. Supplementation with synthetic lysine enhances nitrogen retention and protein accretion and improves animal growth performance and immune function[10, 17,18,19,20]. Lysine bioefficacy is dependent on the source of dietary lysine[29] These studies have shown that animal weight gain, protein digestibility, and amino acid bioavailability are associated with increased dietary lysine. The transgenic rice lines HFL1 and HFL2 were developed by enhancing lysine anabolism and reducing lysine catabolism[25] These two HFL transgenic lines contain free lysine levels in seeds up to 25-fold over that of the wild type, but without the selectable marker gene. These two transgenic rice lines, which are currently undergoing nutritional and food safety assessments, could potentially alleviate malnutrition[33]
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