Technical Abstract: Worldwide vitamin C deficiency is considered a problem of limited scope primarily in developing nations of Africa and South Asia where supply of fresh fruits and vegetables can be unreliable and availability of vitamin supplements limited. While the more severe effects of vitamin C deficiency (connective tissue defects, poor wound healing, and tooth loss) are rare in developed nations, significant proportions of said populations have intake levels below recommended levels. Strategies to manipulate crop plants for elevated vitamin C accumulation will thus be important in both developing and developed nations and the completion of the gene repertoire for plant L-Galactose pathway to ascorbate should facilitate further studies toward understanding regulatory control of ascorbate accumulation and opportunities for increased vitamin C content of food crops.