1ICAR-Directorate of Rice Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad-500 030
2Department of Plant Biotechnology, Centre for Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore-641 003
3ICAR-National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, Pusa Campus, New Delhi-110 012
4Division of Plant Physiology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012
5Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Delhi, South Campus, New Delhi-110 021
Division of Genetics, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012
*Corresponding author's e-mail: aks_gene@yahoo.com
Online published on 10 March, 2015.
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the major staple food crop which feeds more than half of the world's population. However, rice endosperm lacks pathway to synthesize provitamin
A. Therefore, rice eaters particularly children and pregnant women suffer due to vitamin A deficiency (VAD) which, besides causing night blindness, also makes them more prone to a range of ailments. With the aim of overcoming VAD, Golden Rice® lines were developed by connecting the missing links of β-carotene pathway in the rice endosperm through genetic transformation. We present an overview on the origin of Golden Rice® concept, development of prototypes, different generations of Golden Rice®, various events and their characteristics, the progress in marker assisted development of Golden Rice® and future prospects in India.
Golden rice®, Provitamin A, Transgenics, Event characterization, Marker assisted backcross breeding
