The Production of Unusual Fatty Acids in Transgenic Plants

Abstract

The ability to genetically engineer plants has facilitated the generation of oilseeds synthesizing non-native fatty acids. Two particular classes of fatty acids are considered in this review. First, so-called industrial fatty acids, which usually contain functional groups such as hydroxyl, epoxy, or acetylenic bonds, and second, very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids normally found in fish oils and marine microorganisms. For industrial fatty acids, there has been limited progress toward obtaining high-level accumulation of these products in transgenic plants. For very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, although they have a much more complex biosynthesis, accumulation of some target fatty acids has been remarkably successful. In this review, we consider the probable factors responsible for these different outcomes, as well as the potential for further optimization of the transgenic production of unusual fatty acids in transgenic plants.

FAD2 and FAD3 Desaturases Form Heterodimers That Facilitate Metabolic Channeling in Vivo

“…There is currently considerable interest in engineering plants to accumulate high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids and unusual fatty acids in production plants (40,41). Coexpressing desaturases or desaturase-like enzymes that can interact to achieve the accumulation a desired product may provide another opportunity for optimizing their accumulation via metabolite channeling.…”

Disruption of theArabidopsisCGI-58 homologue produces Chanarin–Dorfman-like lipid droplet accumulation in plants

“…In domesticated oilseeds, these stored TAGs represent a major source of calories for human and animal nutrition, an excellent feedstock for diesel fuels, and a reservoir for the deposition of industrially important fatty acids used as chemical feedstocks (3)(4)(5)(6). Although not commonly appreciated, TAGs also are synthesized in nonseed tissues (7,8), but their abundance in these tissues is low, in part because of the metabolism of the cell and perhaps as a consequence of the continuous recycling of fatty acids for energy and membrane synthesis.…”

Transplastomic plants for innovations in agriculture. A review

“…However, an unbalanced diet in VLCPUFAs has been associated with abnormal cell growth and division, platelet aggregation, inflammatory responses, and hemorrhage (Dnyaneshwar et al 2006). Commercial oilseed crops represent the main source of oils and fats in the human diet (Gunstone et al 2001) and contain predominantly four fatty acid species (linoleic acid, palmitic acid, lauric acid, and oleic acid) and lack VLCPUFAs (Murphy 1993;Lands 2005;Singh et al 2005;Cahoon et al 2007;Napier 2007;Rogalski and Carrer 2011). As fatty acids are also essential for plant cells' growth and development, and the plastids harbor the fatty acid biosynthesis machinery, nuclear transformation of oilseed plants has been carried out to produce additional fatty acids or lipids of nutritional importance (Wu et al 2005;Napier 2007;Damude and Kinney 2008;Napier and Graham 2010) or for biodiesel production (Durrett et al 2008;Graef et al 2009;Lu et al 2011).…”