Grain with increased nicotianamine

Abstract

A grain crop may have an increased amount of nicotianamine (NA). The increased NA may correlate with an increased bioavailability of iron in the grain and any product, such as ground flour, resulting from processing of the grain. The increase of NA may be achieved through the expression of the OsNAS2 gene. Further, a grain flour produced from a transformed grain plant may have an increased amount of NA, and thus an increased amount of bio-available iron, as compared to a grain flour produced from a non-transformed grain plant of the same species. The grain flour produced from the transformed grain plant (“biofortified flour”) may be used in food production for feed to animals or humans. Such a feed including the biofortified flour may improve the gut health and/or the feed efficiency of the eater as compared to the gut health for an eater of non-biofortified flour.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.