The Process of Accumulation of Seed Proteins and the Prospects for Using Biotechnology to Improve Crops

Seeds, as represented by the major crops of corn, wheat, soybeans as well as other legumes and cereals throughout the world, are the central agricultural commodities. The domestication of these and other a few other crops has been hypothesized to be one of the most significant developments in the origins of civilization throughout the world. Human selection of plants has optimized seeds to accumulate large quantities of proteins and for high productivity of the seed plants that bear the seeds. Modern biology has resulted in a broad understanding of the molecular and cell biology of seed constituents. New tools and perspective are available to produce directed changes in seeds using biotechnology. A large literature on this subject is available, with many excellent reviews of the process of seed development, storage protein families, and how storage proteins are assembled into storage organelles. The cutting edge of seed biology involves using this base of information to conduct further experiments to understand how seeds regulate composition. This knowledge is now being used in conjunction with biotechnology to alter seeds to improve composition, allergenicity, and the production of industrial or pharmaceutical products.