title: Reconstitution of EPA and DHA biosynthesis in arabidopsis: iterative metabolic engineering for the synthesis of n-3 LC-PUFAs in transgenic plants.
abstract: An iterative approach to optimising the accumulation of non-native long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in transgenic plants was undertaken in Arabidopsis thaliana. The contribution of a number of different transgene enzyme activities was systematically determined, as was the contribution of endogenous fatty acid metabolism. Successive iterations were informed by lipidomic analysis of neutral, polar and acyl-CoA pools. This approach allowed for a four-fold improvement on levels previously reported for the accumulation of eicosapentaenoic acid in Arabidopsis seeds and also facilitated the successful engineering of the high value polyunsaturated fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid to 10-fold higher levels. Our studies identify the minimal gene set required to direct the efficient synthesis of these fatty acids in transgenic seed oil.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Herts AL5 2JQ, UK.
authors.forename: Noemi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Lopez
authors.forename: Richard P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Haslam
authors.forename: Sarah L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Usher
authors.forename: Johnathan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Napier
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sayanova
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000502:physiology*; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D024861:Genetic Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D060847:Metabolic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid