Abstract
Plant oilseeds are a major source of nutritional oils. Their fatty acid composition, especially the proportion of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, has important effects on human health. Because intake of saturated fats is correlated with the incidence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, a goal of metabolic engineering is to develop oils low in saturated fatty acids. Palmitic acid (16:0) is the most abundant saturated fatty acid in the seeds of many oilseed crops and in Arabidopsis thaliana. We expressed FAT-5, a membrane-bound desaturase cloned from Caenorhabditis elegans, in Arabidopsis using a strong seed-specific promoter. The FAT-5 enzyme is highly specific to 16:0 as substrate, converting it to 16:1∆9; expression of fat-5 reduced the 16:0 content of the seed by two-thirds. Decreased 16:0 and elevated 16:1 levels were evident both in the storage and membrane lipids of seeds. Regiochemical analysis of phosphatidylcholine showed that 16:1 was distributed at both positions on the glycerolipid backbone, unlike 16:0, which is predominately found at the sn-1 position. Seeds from a plant line homozygous for FAT-5 expression were comparable to wild type with respect to seed set and germination, while oil content and weight were somewhat reduced. These experiments demonstrate that targeted heterologous expression of a desaturase in oilseeds can reduce the level of saturated fatty acids in the oil, significantly improving its nutritional value.
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
FAT-5 converts 16:0 to 16:1∆9.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thaliana
Arabidopsis thalianae1 - Gene
- FAT-5e0
- Outcome
- converting it to 16:1∆9e0
- Qualifier
- 16:0 as substratee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The FAT-5 enzyme is highly specific to 16:0 as substrate, converting it to 16:1∆9”
e1“Arabidopsis thaliana”
Claim · model-written summary
Expression of fat-5 reduced seed 16:0 content by two-thirds.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thalianaArabidopsis thalianae1
- Treatment
- expression of fat-5e0
- Gene
- fat-5e0
- Outcome
- 16:0 content of the seede0
- Direction
- reducede0
- Value
- two-thirdse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“expression of fat-5 reduced the 16:0 content of the seed by two-thirds”
e1“Arabidopsis thaliana”
Claim · model-written summary
Storage and membrane seed lipids had decreased 16:0 and elevated 16:1 levels.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thalianaArabidopsis thalianae1
- Organ / stage
- storage and membrane lipids of seedse0
- Outcome
- 16:0e0
- Direction
- Decreasede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Decreased 16:0 and elevated 16:1 levels were evident both in the storage and membrane lipids of seeds.”
e1“Arabidopsis thaliana”
Claim · model-written summary
Seed storage and membrane lipids had elevated 16:1 levels.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thalianaArabidopsis thalianae1
- Organ / stage
- storage and membrane lipids of seedse0
- Outcome
- 16:1 levelse0
- Direction
- elevatede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Decreased 16:0 and elevated 16:1 levels were evident both in the storage and membrane lipids of seeds.”
e1“Arabidopsis thaliana”
Claim · model-written summary
Phosphatidylcholine 16:1 occupied both glycerolipid positions, whereas 16:0 occurred predominantly at sn-1.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thalianaArabidopsis thalianae1
- Outcome
- 16:1 was distributed at both positions on the glycerolipid backbonee0
- Qualifier
- 16:0, which is predominately found at the sn-1 positione0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“16:1 was distributed at both positions on the glycerolipid backbone, unlike 16:0, which is predominately found at the sn-1 position”
e1“Arabidopsis thaliana”
Claim · model-written summary
FAT-5 homozygous seeds had seed set and germination comparable to wild type.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thalianaArabidopsis thalianae1
- Material
- plant line homozygous for FAT-5 expressione0
- Outcome
- seed set and germinatione0
- Direction
- comparablee0
- Comparator
- wild typee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Seeds from a plant line homozygous for FAT-5 expression were comparable to wild type with respect to seed set and germination”
e1“Arabidopsis thaliana”
Claim · model-written summary
FAT-5 homozygous seeds had somewhat reduced oil content and weight.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thalianaArabidopsis thalianae2
- Material
- plant line homozygous for FAT-5 expressione1
- Outcome
- oil content and weighte0
- Direction
- reducede0
- Qualifier
- somewhate0
- Comparator
- wild typee1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“while oil content and weight were somewhat reduced”
e1“Seeds from a plant line homozygous for FAT-5 expression were comparable to wild type with respect to seed set and germination”
e2“Arabidopsis thaliana”
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