Modifying the lipid content and composition of plant seeds: engineering the production of LC-PUFA

Abstract

Omega-3 fatty acids are characterized by a double bond at the third carbon atom from the end of the carbon chain. Latterly, long chain polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5Δ5,8,11,14,17) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA; 22:6 Δ4,7,10,13,16,19), which typically only enter the human diet via the consumption of oily fish, have attracted much attention. The health benefits of the omega-3 LC-PUFAs EPA and DHA are now well established. Given the desire for a sustainable supply of omega-LC-PUFA, efforts have focused on enhancing the composition of vegetable oils to include these important fatty acids. Specifically, EPA and DHA have been the focus of much study, with the ultimate goal of producing a terrestrial plant-based source of these so-called fish oils. Over the last decade, many genes encoding the primary LC-PUFA biosynthetic activities have been identified and characterized. This has allowed the reconstitution of the LC-PUFA biosynthetic pathway in oilseed crops, producing transgenic plants engineered to accumulate omega-3 LC-PUFA to levels similar to that found in fish oil. In this review, we will describe the most recent developments in this field and the challenges of overwriting endogenous seed lipid metabolism to maximize the accumulation of these important fatty acids.

Very long-chainn-3 fatty acids and human health: fact, fiction and the future

“…Thus, alternative sources need to be sought and then proven to be beneficial to human health. Such alternatives include algal oils, some of which are already widely used in the infant formula industry, and seed oils from plants genetically modified to produce EPA and DHA (273) . Finally, although the focus of this article is the very long chain n-3 fatty acids EPA, DPA and DHA, plant n-3 fatty acids are widely available and are sustainable.…”

The effect of light conditions on interpreting oil composition engineering in Arabidopsis seeds

“…Therefore, the bioengineering wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pld3 | 1 of oilseed crops to accumulate TAG with novel fatty acid compositions for use in food or industrial feedstocks has been a goal of the plant lipid community for over 20 years. Most engineering of plants to produce novel TAG fatty acid compositions has been first demonstrated in Arabidopsis thaliana seeds, and the wide range of unique fatty acid compositions produced has been reviewed extensively (Aznar-Moreno & Durrett, 2017;Bates, 2016;Cahoon et al, 2007;Carlsson et al, 2011;Dyer et al, 2008;Haslam et al, 2013;Lee, Chen, & Kim, 2015;Lu, Napier, Clemente, & Cahoon, 2011;Napier, 2007;Napier, Haslam, Beaudoin, & Cahoon, 2014;Ruiz-Lopez, Usher, Sayanova, Napier, & Haslam, 2015;Singh, Zhou, Liu, Stymne, & Green, 2005;Vanhercke, Wood, Stymne, Singh, & Green, 2013).Despite the over two decades of plant lipid engineering, we still cannot predict the effect of most engineering approaches on the final fatty acid composition or total oil amount, thereby implying that more basic research is needed to understand the factors which control both wild type and transgenic seed oil content. were also coexpressed with the hydroxylase to selectively accumulate HFA in seed oil (Bates et al, 2014;Burgal et al, 2008;van Erp et al, 2011van Erp et al, , 2015.…”

“…Most engineering of plants to produce novel TAG fatty acid compositions has been first demonstrated in Arabidopsis thaliana seeds, and the wide range of unique fatty acid compositions produced has been reviewed extensively (Aznar-Moreno & Durrett, 2017;Bates, 2016;Cahoon et al, 2007;Carlsson et al, 2011;Dyer et al, 2008;Haslam et al, 2013;Lee, Chen, & Kim, 2015;Lu, Napier, Clemente, & Cahoon, 2011;Napier, 2007;Napier, Haslam, Beaudoin, & Cahoon, 2014;Ruiz-Lopez, Usher, Sayanova, Napier, & Haslam, 2015;Singh, Zhou, Liu, Stymne, & Green, 2005;Vanhercke, Wood, Stymne, Singh, & Green, 2013).…”

Phosphate-induced changes in fatty acid biosynthesis in Chlorella sp. KS-MA2 strain

“…A group of membrane bound desaturases and elongating enzymes are involved in the modification of saturated fatty acid precursors (palmitic acid and stearic acid) to PUFAs (Ruiz-Lopez et al, 2015). Our experiment demonstrated that phosphate concentration had a significant impact on the production of unsaturated FAs (Fig.…”