Recently, a study conducted by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Germany successfully increased the production of vitamin D3 in Solanaceae plants through metabolic engineering methods. This research result was published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal, providing new ideas for addressing the global problem of vitamin D3 deficiency.

In this study, scientists chose Solanum lycopersicum and Nicotiana benthamiana as experimental subjects, both of which belong to the Solanaceae family and naturally accumulate high levels of cholesterol. Cholesterol is the direct precursor of 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC), a precursor substance of vitamin D3. By using gene editing technology to knock out the 7-DR2 gene in tomatoes, scientists have successfully blocked the conversion of cholesterol to other metabolic pathways, thereby accumulating more 7-DHC. Under sunlight, these 7-DHCs are converted into vitamin D3.

The experimental results showed that after gene editing, tomato plants showed a significant increase in vitamin D3 content in their leaves after exposure to sunlight, ranging from 5.24 micrograms to 6.7 micrograms per gram of dry weight. Although vitamin D3 production can also be detected in green fruits, quantifiable vitamin D3 was not detected in mature fruits. This discovery indicates that it is feasible to increase the production of vitamin D3 in Solanaceae plants through gene editing methods.