Genetic Engineering of Lesquerella with Increased Ricinoleic Acid Content in Seed Oil.

ABSTRACT: Seeds of castor (Ricinus communis) are enriched in oil with high levels of the industrially valuable fatty acid ricinoleic acid (18:1OH), but production of this plant is limited because of the cooccurrence of the ricin toxin in its seeds. Lesquerella (Physaria fendleri) is being developed as an alternative industrial oilseed because its seeds accumulate lesquerolic acid (20:1OH), an elongated form of 18:1OH in seed oil which lacks toxins. Synthesis of 20:1OH is through elongation of 18:1OH by a lesquerella elongase, PfKCS18. Oleic acid (18:1) is the substrate for 18:1OH synthesis, but it is also used by fatty acid desaturase 2 (FAD2) and FAD3 to sequentially produce linoleic and linolenic acids. To develop lesquerella that produces 18:1OH-rich seed oils such as castor, RNA in

SUBMITTER: Chen GQ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8230273 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature