Abstract
Increasing the production of plant oils such as soybean oil as a renewable resource for food and fuel is valuable. Successful breeding for higher oil levels in soybean, however, usually results in reduced protein, a second valuable seed component. This study shows that by manipulating a highly active acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) the hydrocarbon flux to oil in oilseeds can be increased without reducing the protein component. Compared to other plant DGATs, a DGAT from Vernonia galamensis (VgDGAT1A) produces much higher oil synthesis and accumulation activity in yeast, insect cells, and soybean. Soybean lines expressing VgDGAT1A show a 4% increase in oil content without reductions in seed protein contents or yield per unit land area. Incorporation of this trait into 50% of soybeans worldwide could result in an increase of 850 million kg oil/year without new land use or inputs and be worth ∼U.S.$1 billion/year at 2012 production and market prices.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 7188-7194 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry |
| Volume | 64 |
| Issue number | 38 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 28 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research (CPBR) Agreement GO12026-325, Ashland Co., United Soybean Board (USB), Owensboro Grain, the Kentucky Soybean Promotion Board, and the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station, Manuscript 16-06-061.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 American Chemical Society.
Keywords
- Glycine max
- Vernonia galamensis
- diacylglycerol acyltransferase
- lipids
- oilseeds
- triacylglycerol
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Chemistry (all)
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences (all)
