title: AtDGAT2 is a functional acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase and displays different acyl-CoA substrate preferences than AtDGAT1.
abstract: Demonstration of the function of the Arabidopsis thaliana acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2 (AtDGAT2) has remained elusive despite biochemical testing of genetic mutants and overexpression lines. We show that transiently expressed AtDGAT2 in the Nicotiana benthamiana leaf resulted in an increase in triacylglycerol twice as great as the increase observed following parallel expression of AtDGAT1. AtDGAT2 showed higher conversion from labeled diacylglycerol to triacylglycerol compared to AtDGAT1, and was acyl-CoA dependent. In addition, AtDGAT2 had different acyl-CoA substrate preference than AtDGAT1. These results allow us to conclude that AtDAGT2 is a functional acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase enzyme that can catalyse substantial increase in TAG synthesis.
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Plant Industry, GPO Box 1600, Canberra, ACT, Australia. Xue-Rong.Zhou@csiro.au
authors.forename: Xue-Rong
authors.initials: XR
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Pushkar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shrestha
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Petrie
authors.forename: Surinder P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000196:embryology*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D051048:Diacylglycerol O-Acyltransferase / Q000502:physiology*; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; C578613:DGAT2 protein, Arabidopsis; D051048:Diacylglycerol O-Acyltransferase
keywords: Acyltransferase; DGAT2; Leaf fatty acid; Nicotiana benthamiana infiltration; Oil increase; TAG