July 2022 - 14

VEGETABLE CROP UPDATE
Researchers seek solution to 'spinach teeth'
By Michael J. Haas
Boyce Thompson Institute
Most of us are familiar with " spinach
teeth, " the harmless but gritty-chalky
mouthfeel caused by the vegetable.
A team of researchers from Boyce
Thompson Institute (BTI) and six
Chinese universities has identified genes
in spinach that regulate its concentration
of oxalate, which is responsible for
spinach teeth, as well as genes that help
the plant combat downy mildew, a major
disease of commercial crops.
The findings, described in a
paper published Dec. 13 in Nature
Communications, could allow breeders
to produce disease-resistant varieties of
spinach with more consumer appeal.
" I think more consumers would be
willing to buy spinach that has less
oxalate, " said BTI faculty member
Zhangjun Fei, who co-led the study and
is a co-corresponding author of the paper.
" Dietary oxalate can interfere with mineral
absorption and may lead to kidney stones,
and less oxalate would also make spinach
more palatable to a wider market. "
The research included contributors
from BTI, Cornell University, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Shanghai
Normal University, Zhejiang University,
Zhejiang A&F University, Qinghai
University, Qingdao Agricultural
University and Harbin Normal University.
The study compared the genomes of
cultivated spinach (Spinacia oleracea)
and two of its wild relatives (S.
turkestanica and S. tetranda) to identify
genes linked to traits of interest to plant
breeders, farmers and consumers.
" Our results provide rich resources
for the spinach community, especially
those working on increasing downy
mildew resistance, improving leaf
texture and reducing oxalate content, "
said co-corresponding author Chen
Jiao, a former postdoctoral researcher
in Fei's group who is now a professor
in the College of Agriculture and
Biotechnology at Zhejiang University.
Improving on the draft
In 2017, Fei's lab reported a draft
spinach genome, whose quality was
not high due to technical limitations
14 | VegetableGrowersNews.com

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