Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Reynolds, Kyle B
• Taylor, Matthew C
• Zhou, Xue-Rong
• Vanhercke, Thomas
• Wood, Craig C
• Blanchard, Christopher L
• Singh, Surinder P
• Petrie, James R

Titel

Metabolic engineering of medium-chain fatty acid biosynthesis in Nicotiana benthamiana plant leaf lipids

Ist Teil von

• Frontiers in plant science, 2015-03, Vol.6, p.164-164

Ort / Verlag

Switzerland: Frontiers Media S.A

Erscheinungsjahr

2015

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Various research groups are investigating the production of oil in non-seed biomass such as leaves. Recently, high levels of oil accumulation have been achieved in plant biomass using a combination of biotechnological approaches which also resulted in significant changes to the fatty acid composition of the leaf oil. In this study, we were interested to determine whether medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) could be accumulated in leaf oil. MCFA are an ideal feedstock for biodiesel and a range of oleochemical products including lubricants, coatings, and detergents. In this study, we explore the synthesis, accumulation, and glycerolipid head-group distribution of MCFA in leaves of Nicotiana benthamiana after transient transgenic expression of C12:0-, C14:0-, and C16:0-ACP thioesterase genes. We demonstrate that the production of these MCFA in leaf is increased by the co-expression of the WRINKLED1 (WRI1) transcription factor, with the lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase (LPAAT) from Cocos nucifera being required for the assembly of tri-MCFA TAG species. We also demonstrate that the newly-produced MCFA are incorporated into the triacylglycerol of leaves in which WRI1 + diacylglycerol acyltransferase1 (DGAT1) genes are co-expressed for increased oil accumulation.