Lipid Metabolism and Improvement in Oilseed Crops: Recent Advances in Multi-Omics Studies

Abstract

Oilseed crops are rich in plant lipids that not only provide essential fatty acids for the human diet but also play important roles as major sources of biofuels and indispensable raw materials for the chemical industry. The regulation of lipid metabolism genes is a major factor affecting oil production. In this review, we systematically summarize the metabolic pathways related to lipid production and storage in plants and highlight key research advances in characterizing the genes and regulatory factors influencing lipid anabolic metabolism. In addition, we integrate the latest results from multi-omics studies on lipid metabolism to provide a reference to better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying oil anabolism in oilseed crops.

Boosting plant oil yields: the role of genetic engineering in industrial applications

“…further conversion into various intermediates, such as phosphoenolpyruvate and malate, through the glycolysis and/or the oxidative pentose phosphate (OPP) pathway before being transported into plastids for acetyl-CoA production (Seliniski and Scheibe, 2019; Bu et al, 2023).…”

“…Furthermore, FA ranging from C8:0-C18:0 may undergo unsaturation catalyzed by fatty acid desaturases (FADs), specifically FAD6, 7, and 8 (Manan et al, 2017), while still within plastids (Elahi et al, 2016). The resulting saturated and monounsaturated FAs in the C8-C18 range are transported as acyl-CoAs to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) for further modification and elongation (Bu et al, 2023;Fell et al, 2023).…”

“…Continued FA elongation in the ER involves a series of reactions utilizing cytosolic malonyl-CoA and imported acyl-CoA (Bu et al, 2023;Fell et al, 2023). These reactions are catalyzed by an ER-specific fatty acid elongation complex comprising four enzymes: 3-ketoacyl-CoA synthase, 3-ketoacyl-CoA reductase, 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrase, and enoyl-CoA reductase (Bu et al, 2023;Fell et al, 2023). This enzymatic complex facilitates the production of FAs up to C24.…”