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Promising young UWA researcher and avid surfer Tiago Tomaz has recently published the discovery that removing a protein called mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase (mMDH) from plant leaves can increase levels of vitamin C and have large effects on plant growth.

The surprising discovery arose from investigating and altering plant respiration – the way plants “breathe” and produce energy.

His research, in collaboration with colleagues at the Umea Plant Science Centre in Sweden, was published in the November issue of Plant Physiology. The article was subsequently highlighted as recommended reading by the Faculty of 1000, a network of leading scientists who identify and evaluate the most important articles in biology and medical research.

The ability to increase a plant's vitamin C content – a natural antioxidant – has many implications for improving the current approach to dietary vitamin supplementation and the development of antioxidant-rich foods. This knowledge may also help create plants better able to withstand environmental stresses associated with climate change.

“Environmental stresses create ‘free radicals’ – the vandals of the cell,” explains Tiago. “These free radicals rip parts off other molecules, making them unstable. These unstable molecules then rip parts off other molecules and so the damage spreads. Antioxidants, such as vitamin C, are a weapon against free radicals. Plants with higher levels of antioxidants have two benefits; they are better able to withstand stress themselves and are healthier for the people that eat them.”

Tiago works at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, where he is in the final year of his doctorate.