Integration of omics approaches to understand oil/protein content during seed development in oilseed crops

Abstract

Oilseed crops, especially soybean (Glycine max) and canola/rapeseed (Brassica napus), produce seeds that are rich in both proteins and oils and that are major sources of energy and nutrition worldwide. Most of the nutritional content in the seed is accumulated in the embryo during the seed filling stages of seed development. Understanding the metabolic pathways that are active during seed filling and how they are regulated are essential prerequisites to crop improvement. In this review, we summarize various omics studies of soybean and canola/rapeseed during seed filling, with emphasis on oil and protein traits, to gain a systems-level understanding of seed development. Currently, most (80-85%) of the soybean and rapeseed reference genomes have been sequenced (950 and 850 megabases, respectively). Parallel to these efforts, extensive omics datasets from different seed filling stages have become available. Transcriptome and proteome studies have detected preponderance of starch metabolism and glycolysis enzymes to be the possible cause of higher oil in B. napus compared to other crops. Small RNAome studies performed during the seed filling stages have revealed miRNA-mediated regulation of transcription factors, with the suggestion that this interaction could be responsible for transitioning the seeds from embryogenesis to maturation. In addition, progress made in dissecting the regulation of de novo fatty acid synthesis and protein storage pathways is described. Advances in high-throughput omics and comprehensive tissue-specific analyses make this an exciting time to attempt knowledge-driven investigation of complex regulatory pathways.

Identification of miRNA-mRNA regulatory modules involved in lipid metabolism and seed development in a woody-oil tree (Camellia oleifera)

“…Studies have shown that some miRNAs and their target genes are related to seed size [13,46], and most of the target genes belong to transcription factors, mainly ARF [19,47], CNR [48] and MYB [49]. Our data showed there were 23 miRNA-mRNA Because MYB89 transcription factor represses seed oil accumulation in Arabidopsis, and it was expressed predominantly in developing seeds during maturation [50].…”

“…The miR156 participates in the early morphogenesis of Arabidopsis embryos by regulating target SPL10 and SPL11 [27], and it may also mediate the targeted regulation of SBP expression levels to affect flowering time in plants [47]. miR159…”

Review: Omics and Strategic Yield Improvement in Oil Crops

“…One example of translating fundamental research into benefit for farmers is the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project which aims to develop drought-tolerant and insect-protected maize using conventional breeding, marker-assisted selection, and biotechnology approaches [25]. Omics has also been used to investigate the regulation of oil biosynthesis with the objective of increasing yields of oil crops [14,28].…”

Mining seed proteome: from protein dynamics to modification profiles

“…Moreover, this approach gives insight in a time dimension -i.e. it allows seed germination and development to be addressed (Wang et al, 2016;Gupta, Bhaskar, Sriram, and Wang, 2017).…”