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Biochemistry

Camelina sativa

Publication Year

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Full-Text Articles in Other Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology

Towards The Synthetic Design Of Camelina Oil Enriched In Tailored Acetyl-Triacylglycerols With Medium-Chain Fatty Acids, Sunil Bansal, Hae Jin Kim, Gunnam Na, Megan E. Hamilton, Edgar B. Cahoon, Chaofu Lu, Timothy P. Durrett Jan 2018

Towards The Synthetic Design Of Camelina Oil Enriched In Tailored Acetyl-Triacylglycerols With Medium-Chain Fatty Acids, Sunil Bansal, Hae Jin Kim, Gunnam Na, Megan E. Hamilton, Edgar B. Cahoon, Chaofu Lu, Timothy P. Durrett

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

The ability to manipulate expression of key biosynthetic enzymes has allowed the development of genetically modified plants that synthesise unusual lipids that are useful for biofuel and industrial applications. By taking advantage of the unique activities of enzymes from different species, tailored lipids with a targeted structure can be conceived. In this study we demonstrate the successful implementation of such an approach by metabolically engineering the oilseed crop Camelina sativa to produce 3-acetyl-1,2-diacyl-sn-glycerols (acetyl-TAGs) with medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs). Different transgenic camelina lines that had been genetically modified to produce MCFAs through the expression of MCFA-specific thioesterases and …


Significant Enhancement Of Fatty Acid Composition In Seeds Of The Allohexaploid, Camelina Sativa, Using Crispr/Cas9 Gene Editing, Wen Zhi Jhang, Isabelle M. Henry, Peter G. Lynagh, Lucia Comai, Edgar B. Cahoon, Donald P. Weeks Jan 2017

Significant Enhancement Of Fatty Acid Composition In Seeds Of The Allohexaploid, Camelina Sativa, Using Crispr/Cas9 Gene Editing, Wen Zhi Jhang, Isabelle M. Henry, Peter G. Lynagh, Lucia Comai, Edgar B. Cahoon, Donald P. Weeks

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

The CRISPR/Cas9 nuclease system is a powerful and flexible tool for genome editing, and novel applications of this system are being developed rapidly. Here, we used CRISPR/Cas9 to target the FAD2 gene in Arabidopsis thaliana and in the closely related emerging oil seed plant, Camelina sativa, with the goal of improving seed oil composition. We successfully obtained Camelina seeds in which oleic acid content was increased from 16% to over 50% of the fatty acid composition. These increases were associated with significant decreases in the less desirable polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid (i.e. a decrease from ~16% to <4%) and linolenic acid (a decrease from ~35% to <10%). These changes result in oils that are superior on multiple levels: they are healthier, more oxidatively stable and better suited for production of certain commercial chemicals, including biofuels. As expected, A. …