Tomato plants having fruit with high zeaxanthin content
AssigneeYissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
InventorsJoseph Hirschberg, Daniel Zamir, Uri Karniel, Amit Koch
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Abstract
The present invention relates to tomato plants having fruit with elevated nutritional and health benefits, particularly fruit with elevated content of the carotenoid zeaxanthin, a carotenoid offering a range of health benefits, particularly thought to inhibit the progression of age-related macular degradation (AMD), the most prevalent cause of blindness in developed countries.
Claims29
A tomato plant having fruit with high zeaxanthin content, the tomato plant comprising within its genome a combination of (i) at least one HIGH-BETA (B) allele;
- (ii) at least one HIGH-PIGMENT 3 (hp3) allele, and (iii) at least one green-stripe (gs) allele, wherein the zeaxanthin content in the tomato fruit is at least 20% out of the total carotenoid content.
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A tomato fruit having zeaxanthin content of at least 20% out of the total carotenoid content in the fruit.
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A method for elevating the content of zeaxanthin in tomato fruit relative to the total carotenoid content in the fruit, comprising expressing within the genome of a tomato plant producing said fruit at least one of (i) at least one HIGH-BETA (B) allele;
- (ii) at least one HIGH-PIGMENT 3 (hp3) allele, and (iii) at least one green-stripe (gs) allele.
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A transgenic tomato plant having fruit with high zeaxanthin content, the tomato plant comprising a combination of (i) a polynucleotide encoding beta-carotene hydroxylase (BCH);
- (ii) at least one HIGH-BETA (B) allele;
- and (ii) at least one HIGH-PIGMENT 3 (hp3) allele, wherein the zeaxanthin content in the tomato fruit is at least 20% out of the total carotenoid content.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.