Progress towards developing bloat-safe legumes for the farming industry

摘要: Proanthocyanidins (PAs) are polymeric flavonoids derived from the phenylpropanoid pathway, and they bind reversibly to forage proteins within rumen, providing protection bloat while enhancing protein utilisation animal production. The occurrence of PAs varies greatly legume species. Foliar present in Lotus corniculatus (birdsfoot trefoil) Onobrychis viciifolia (sainfoin), but such species often show poor persistence under grazing. By contrast, Trifolium repens (white clover) Medicago sativa (lucerne, or alfalfa) have good negligible amounts foliar PAs. We altered accumulation patterns lucerne white clover by overexpression an R2R3-MYB transcription factor (TaMYB14) isolated T. arvense (rabbit’s foot clover), a with significant levels leaf PA. Such plants effectively produced high degree polymerisation (DP) tissue upregulating genes PA pathway. comparing transcriptome pools, we identified additional MYB factors putative involvement synthesis arvense, indicating that these share complex regulation system. Progress towards producing commercial cultivars containing effective has begun. will provide viable option for mitigating pastoral agriculture-based farming systems.