.Various genetic manipulation strategies, discussed by Grof and Campbell (2001)1
in their
review of the topic, are currently being employed to redirect photosynthetically fixed carbon
toward storage tissues and away from other sinks. Although the molecular tools for
engineering high sucrose plants are available, and many targets for manipulation through
overexpression or repression have been identified, this has not been achieved. Specific key
target areas include sucrose synthesis in the leaf and stem, sucrose transport and the
enzymes catalysing sucrose cleavage in stem tissues. An additional target area for
manipulation is the plant cell wall as it represents a major carbon sink and is the most
abundant reservoir of organic carbon in nature.