Oil accumulation in leaves directed by modification of fatty acid breakdown and lipid synthesis pathways

• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7652.2009.00435.x
• Publication Date: 2009-08-04T07:30:28Z
• Authors: Steve P. Slocombe; Jo Cornah; Helen Pinfield‐Wells; Kelly Soady; QianYi Zhang; Alison Gilday; John M. Dyer; Ian A. Graham
• Keywords: Acyltransferases

Plant oils in the form of triacylglycerol (TAG) are used for food, industrial feedstock and biofuel manufacture. Although TAG is typically harvested from fruit or seeds oil crop species, plants can also accumulate small amounts leaves other vegetative tissues. Here we show that leaf levels be increased significantly (10-20 fold) by blocking fatty acid breakdown, particularly during extended dark treatments senescence model plant Arabidopsis. Generation a double mutant breakdown diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) resulted severe growth phenotype suggesting partitioning acids to carried out predominantly this acyltransferase. LEC2, seed development transcription factor involved storage product accumulation, was ectopically expressed COMATOSE (cts2). This accumulation type species senescing tissue. Our data suggests recycled membrane re-directed expressing seed-programme tissue block breakdown. work raises possibility producing significant tissues biomass crops such as Miscanthus.