Lipoyl synthases are key enzymes in lipoic acid biosynthesis, a co-factor of several enzyme complexes involved in central metabolism. Plant pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDH), located in mitochondria and plastids, catalyses the first step of fatty acid biosynthesis in these organelles. Among their different components, the E2 subunit requires the lipoic acid prosthetic group to be active. De novo lipoic acid biosynthesis is achieved by the successive action of two enzymes on octanoyl-ACP: octanoyltransferase (LIP2) and lipoyl synthase (LIP1). In this study, two plastidial lipoyl synthase genes from sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) were identified (HaLIP1p1 and HaLIP1p2), sequenced and cloned in a heterologous production system (Escherichia coli). Gene expression studies revealed similar expression patterns for both isoforms, with a slight predominance of HaLIP1p1 in vegetative tissues and mature seeds. Tertiary structural models for these enzymes indicate they both have the same theoretical catalytic sites, using lipoyl-lys and 5-deoxyadenosine as docking substrates. The fatty acid profile of E. coli cells overexpressing HaLIP1p1 and HaLIP1p2 did not present major differences, and the in vivo activity of both proteins was confirmed by complementation of an E. coli JW0623 mutant in which lipoyl synthase is defective. Although no significant differences were detected in the total fatty acid composition of transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana seeds overexpressing any of both proteins, a lipidomic analysis revealed a redistribution of the glycerolipid species, accompanied with increased phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) content and a decrease in diacyglycerols (DAG) and phosphatidylcholine (PC). Depletion of the SAM co-factor caused by HaLIP1p1 and HaLIP1p2 overexpression in transgenic plants could explain this remodelling through its effects on PC synthesis. De novo fatty acid synthesis in plants takes place in the plastid, with acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) the main precursor. This metabolite is primarily generated from pyruvate through the action of the plastidial pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDH), which catalyses the oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate to produce acetyl-CoA, CO 2 and NADH 1. The PDH complex contains 3 subunits: E1 or pyruvate dehydrogenase, E2 or dihydrolipoyl acetyltransferase, and E3 or dihydrolipoyl transhydrogenase. Of these, E2 requires a lipoic acid (LA; 6,8-dithiooctanoic acid or 1,2-dithiolane-3-pentanoic acid) prosthetic group to be functional, a sulphur-containing enzyme co-factor that is essential for the catalytic activity of several key enzyme complexes involved in fundamental metabolic processes in most prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. Besides PDH, this prosthetic group is also required by α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, branched-chain α-ketoacid dehydrogenase, acetoin dehydrogenase, and the glycine cleavage complex (glycine decarboxylase) 2-5 .