title: Identification and characterization of a gene encoding a putative lysophosphatidyl acyltransferase from Arachis hypogaea.
abstract: Lysophosphatidyl acyltransferase (LPAT) is the important enzyme responsible for the acylation of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), leading to the generation of phosphatidic acid (PA) in plant. Its encoding gene is an essential candidate for oil crops to improve oil composition and increase seed oil content through genetic engineering. In this study, a full length AhLPAT4 gene was isolated via cDNA library screening and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE); our data demonstrated that AhLPAT4 had 1631 nucleotides, encoding a putative 43.8 kDa protein with 383 amino acid residues. The deduced protein included a conserved acyltransferase domain and four motifs (I–IV) with putative LPA and acyl-CoA catalytic and binding sites. Bioinformatic analysis indicated that AhLPAT4 contained four transmembrane domains (TMDs), localized to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane; detailed analysis indicated that motif I and motifs II–III in AhLPAT4 were separated by the third TMD, which located on cytosolic and ER luminal side respectively, and hydrophobic residues on the surface of AhLPAT4 protein fold to form a hydrophobic tunnel to accommodate the acyl chain. Subcellular localization analysis confirmed that AhLPAT4 was a cytoplasm protein.Phylogenetic analysis revealed that AhLPAT4 had a high homology (63.7–78.3%) with putative LPAT4 proteins from Glycine max, Arabidopsis thaliana and Ricinus communis. AhLPAT4 was ubiquitously expressed in diverse tissues except in flower, which is almost undetectable. The expression analysis in different developmental stages in peanut seeds indicated that AhLPAT4 did not coincide with oil accumulation.
authors.affiliation: Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,  Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, Wuhan 430062, China.
authors.forename: Si-Long
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jia-Quan
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.forename: Yue-Ting
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiao-Ping
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Yu-Ning
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hui-Fang
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Li-Ying
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Yu-Rong
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Bo-Shou
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Liao
mesh_terms: D000217:Acyltransferases / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D010367:Arachis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013347:Subcellular Fractions / Q000201:enzymology
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D000217:Acyltransferases