Project description:Camelina is an annual oilseed plant that is gaining momentum as a biofuel winter cover crop. Understanding gene regulatory networks (GRNs) is essential to deciphering plant metabolic pathways, including lipid metabolism. Here, we take advantage of a growing collection of gene expression datasets to predict transcription factors (TFs) associated with the control of Camelina lipid metabolism. Also, we performed RNA-seq assays of Camelina's seed at 5, 8, and 11 days post-anthesis (DPA) to improve the transcriptomic resolution of the early stages of the Camelina seed development. We identified ~350 TFs highly co-expressed with lipid-related genes (LRGs). After prioritizing the top 22 TFs for further validation, we identified DNA-binding sites and predicted target genes for 16/22 TF using DNA affinity purification sequencing (DAP-seq). Enrichment analyses supported the co-expression prediction for most TF candidates, and the comparison to Arabidopsis revealed some common themes and aspects unique to Camelina. Altogether, the integration of co-expression data and DNA-binding assays permitted us to generate a high-confident and shortlist of Camelina TFs involved in controlling lipid metabolism during seed development.
Project description:Camelina sativa is an important polyploid oilseed crop with multiple favorable agronomic traits. Capturing the leaf transcriptome of 48 accessions of C. sativa suggests allelic variation for gene expression levels and notably sub-genome dominance, both of which could provide opportunities for crop improvement. Flowering time (FT) is a crucial factor affecting the overall yield of crops. However, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying FT regulation in C. sativa are still limited, partly due to its complex allohexaploid genome. In this study, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis and transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) were employed to explore the FT diversity among 48 C. sativa accessions and dissect the underlying molecular basis. Our results revealed a FT-related co-expressed gene module highly enriched with SOC1s and SOC1-like genes, and identified 10 significant FT-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), thus providing a molecular basis for future genetic improvements in C. sativa breeding
Project description:Camelina sativa (hereafter Camelina) has emerged as a promising platform for metabolic engineering due to its short lifecycle, high seed oil content, and amenability to transformation. Previous work has demonstrated the successful introduction of non‑native pathways for the synthesis of very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLC‑PUFAs), including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). These achievements required the coordinated expression of up to seven heterologous genes encoding desaturases and elongases from microalgae and other marine organisms. Although the accumulation of EPA and DHA in Camelina seeds has been well characterised, the impact of introducing such a complex pathway on endogenous seed metabolism remains largely unexplored. Here, we apply these two quantitative proteomics strategies to characterise the seed proteomes of elite EPA‑ and DHA‑producing Camelina lines. Our goals were to: 1. assess global proteomic changes associated with multigene engineering. 2. identify proteomic signatures associated with the differing oil‑yield penalties observed in EPA and DHA lines.
Project description:Camelina sativa (hereafter Camelina) has emerged as a promising platform for metabolic engineering due to its short lifecycle, high seed oil content, and amenability to transformation. Previous work has demonstrated the successful introduction of non‑native pathways for the synthesis of very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLC‑PUFAs), including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). These achievements required the coordinated expression of up to seven heterologous genes encoding desaturases and elongases from microalgae and other marine organisms. Although the accumulation of EPA and DHA in Camelina seeds has been well characterised, the impact of introducing such a complex pathway on endogenous seed metabolism remains largely unexplored. Here, we apply these two quantitative proteomics strategies to characterise the seed proteomes of elite EPA‑ and DHA‑producing Camelina lines. Our goals were to: 1. assess global proteomic changes associated with multigene engineering. 2. identify proteomic signatures associated with the differing oil‑yield penalties observed in EPA and DHA lines. 3. quantify the (relative) abundance of transgene‑encoded enzymes relative to endogenous lipid biosynthetic proteins.
Project description:Vegetable oils (VO) are possible substitutes for fish oil in aquafeeds but are limited by their lack of omega-3 (n-3) long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA). However, oilseed crops can be modified to produce n-3 LC-PUFA such as eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids, representing a potential option to fill the gap between supply and demand of these important nutrients. Camelina sativa was metabolically engineered to produce a seed oil with around 15 % total n-3 LC-PUFA to potentially substitute for fish oil in salmon feeds. Post-smolt Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) were fed for 11-weeks with one of three experimental diets containing either fish oil (FO), wild-type Camelina oil (WCO) or transgenic Camelina oil (DCO) as added lipid source to evaluate fish performance, nutrient digestibility, tissue n-3 LC-PUFA, and metabolic impact determined by liver transcriptome analysis. The DCO diet did not affect any of the performance or health parameters studied and enhanced apparent digestibility of EPA and DHA compared to the WCO diet. The level of total n-3 LC-PUFA was higher in all the tissues of DCO-fed fish than in WCO-fed fish with levels in liver similar to those in fish fed FO. Endogenous LC-PUFA biosynthetic activity was observed in fish fed both the Camelina oil diets as indicated by the liver transcriptome and levels of intermediate metabolites such as docosapentaenoic acid, with data suggesting that the dietary combination of EPA and DHA inhibited desaturation and elongation activities. Expression of genes involved in phospholipid and triacylglycerol metabolism followed a similar pattern in fish fed DCO and WCO despite the difference in n-3 LC-PUFA contents.