Functional Characterization of Physcomitrella patens Glycerol-3-Phosphate Acyltransferase 9 and an Increase in Seed Oil Content in Arabidopsis by Its Ectopic Expression

Abstract

Since vegetable oils (usually triacylglycerol [TAG]) are extensively used as food and raw materials, an increase in storage oil content and production of valuable polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in transgenic plants is desirable. In this study, a gene encoding glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase 9 (GPAT9), which catalyzes the synthesis of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) from a glycerol-3-phosphate and acyl-CoA, was isolated from Physcomitrella patens, which produces high levels of very-long-chain PUFAs in protonema and gametophores. P. patens GPAT9 shares approximately 50%, 60%, and 70% amino acid similarity with GPAT9 from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Klebsormidium nitens, and Arabidopsis thaliana, respectively. PpGPAT9 transcripts were detected in both the protonema and gametophores. Fluorescent signals from the eYFP:PpGPAT9 construct were observed in the ER of Nicotiana benthamiana leaf epidermal cells. Ectopic expression of PpGPAT9 increased the seed oil content by approximately 10% in Arabidopsis. The levels of PUFAs (18:2, 18:3, and 20:2) and saturated FAs (16:0, 18:0, and 20:0) increased by 60% and 43%, respectively, in the storage oil of the transgenic seeds when compared with the wild type. The transgenic embryos with increased oil content contained larger embryonic cells than the wild type. Thus, PpGPAT9 may be a novel genetic resource to enhance storage oil yields from oilseed crops.

Mining of Potential Gene Resources for Breeding Nutritionally Improved Maize

“…LPA or phatidylcholine (PC) are further catalyzed by a series of enzymes, including diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) and phospholipid diacylglycerol acyltransferase (PDAT), and finally form TAG ( Figure 2 ). Studies have shown that GPAT [ 28 ], DGAT [ 29 , 30 , 31 ] and PDAT [ 30 ] directly affect the TAG synthesis. Transcription factors of AtMYB89 [ 32 ], AtMYB96 [ 33 ], LEC [ 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ],GL2 [ 38 , 39 ], FUS3 [ 40 ] and HB2 [ 41 ] are involved in TAG biosynthesis regulation.…”

Lipid Metabolism in Plants

“…Yang et al [20] studied the metabolism of membrane lipid synthesis of Physcomitrella patens, a moss corresponding to early-stage plants during the terrestrial evolution of plants. The haploid cells of P. patens, protonema, and gametophore, have a high content of 65% of the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA) and a very-long-chain-PUFA [21][22][23].…”

Genome-Wide Identification, Characterization, Evolutionary Analysis, and Expression Pattern of the GPAT Gene Family in Barley and Functional Analysis of HvGPAT18 under Abiotic Stress

“…The GPAT gene family has been identified in many model plants, including Arabidopsis thaliana [ 8 , 10 ], Brassica napus [ 11 ], Oryza sativa [ 10 ], Zea mays [ 12 ], and other plants, such as Paeonia [ 13 ], Gossypium [ 14 ], and Perilla frutescens [ 15 ]. It has been confirmed that the members of the GPAT gene family have been widely described for their role in male fertility [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ], seed development [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ], biotic and abiotic stress tolerance [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 ], and cuticle or suberin production [ 5 , 22 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ]. At present, the research on the GPAT gene family is the best in the model plant Arabidopsis.…”